Rachel Varden
County Galway, Ireland
Rachel Varden is a visual story teller. Her paintings are characterized by quick, fluid brush strokes and drawing, including cartoon-like figures, primitive images and surprising colour combinations. Her most recent work has been in response to Climate Change. The work evolves through continual experimentation and learning, including four residencies at the Lodestar School of Art (2019-2023), and participation in the 2022 New York Studio School Virtual Drawing and Painting Marathon. Her current focus is her interest in The Bayeaux Tapestry exploring the format, the composition and the imagery drawing inspiration to create new works in her own language. Layers of meaning lie behind the vibrant colours and repeat characters. Rachel views the cartoon as her best weapon against traditionally accepted concepts of highbrow art.
Rachel lives and works in Tuam, Co. Galway on the west coast of Ireland. She studied at NCAD, Dublin and ATU, Galway. Through 2021-2022 she was part of the Creative Team for Creative Places Tuam. Her work has been shown in local, national and international group exhibitions at 126 Gallery, Galway, Kfest Arts Festival Killorglin, Co. Kerry and The Irish College, Leuven, Belgium. She was a recipient of an Arts Council of Ireland Agility Award in 2021.
