Rachel Romano
Rachel Romano is a Surrealist Figurative Painter. Her connection to art began at age 7 with sojourns to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with her father, a poet. Their adventures throughout NYC planted the seeds of storytelling.
Expecting to go to art school, Rachel’s brief encounter was cut short by family circumstances. In 1996, at the age of 38, Rachel attended the Lyme Academy of Fine Art for one year. She wanted to be selfish about her art, and selfish about raising her 2 year old son, but both couldn’t happen, so motherhood became the focus. That year of art school gave her a foundation to where she is today.
Rachel had always thought she would be a visual storyteller for children, but could never seem to make that happen. In 2014, after many years of diverse careers in advertising, architecture, and landscape design, she immersed herself in workshops with Tim Hawkesworth. These sessions were about self discovery, and connecting with her personal voice and vision.
The workshops broke her wide open. Rachel discovered she wasn't a storyteller for children, but a storyteller for adults. She put fear aside, not a fear of painting, but a fear of discovering who she was. Rachel let go of what she should or shouldn't do as an artist, and began expressing the myths and experiences of humanity.
She has been featured in numerous publications, blogs, and interviews. Her sketchbook and working drawings are in the permanent collection of The Pennsylvania Historical Society, Philadelphia, PA, a collection that dates back to 1760.
Rachel has attended residences in France and Italy, and is collected worldwide. She is represented by Susanna Gold Art Advisory, USA; Mythic Gallery, USA; Gallerie Lorien, Denmark.
You can find her in her studio in Coatesville, outside of Philadelphia, PA.
Artist Statement
My inspiration is rooted in humanity’s adversity, strength, resilience, and absurdity of life. Personal myths and stories of others fill my creative well. Feeling and seeing the laughter, love, and sorrow in people connects me to the greater picture. It’s this connection that brings the richness of story out in my work.
Although these times are in no way humorous, there is a Shakespearean absurdity to them. My art is a reflection on the actions and ideology of a certain demographic of society. Through exploration in drawing and painting, I am searching for imagery that brings some assemblage of wit and dialogue to the state of things going on. It’s my objective that these works are timeless, in the sense that the meaning behind my art is nothing new. As we continue to revisit troubling actions and agendas, my hope is that one day we will move beyond history’s dilemmas and trials of society, with the works not only being a recording of history and people, but possibly being looked at as silly conundrums.
My paintings have similarities to the painters of the Northern Renaissance. I love working in oil because it has so much forgiveness, wiping out, adding new layers. Lots of vigor goes into the initial layout. Nothing is really worked out before starting a painting, consequently my paintings will go through many iterations before they are complete.
Recently I was contemplating my work “why so colorful?” and realized it’s a way to offset the darker elements that reside in my work. I work from memory and imagination, feeling the expression for what I am trying to convey. Working from a model I am too informed, giving me too much reality in the figure. It's a completely different process than many realist painters.
https://www.rachelromanofineart.com
