Art House 310 First Friday – Rachel Hermes & Sara Grant
Opening Reception | First Friday March 1st, 2024 | 6-10pm
This event is free to attend and open to the public. Show hangs through March 24th, 2024. Art House 310 is located at 310 S. Laura. Two blocks SE of Douglas & Washington in downtown Wichita.
RACHEL HERMES
Exploring the transient, fragile nature of the human experience, my work focuses on the cycle of life and death as an integrally tied aspect of our relationship with nature. Subjects are often depicted in vulnerable positions with faces obscured, surrounded by plants and leaves, or ambiguous forms. Untamed growth and decay encroach on figure and ground, referencing the inevitable passage of time and the liminal state before regeneration begins. Nature is employed as a variable entity that overwhelms.
My work fluctuates between depicting a perception of my own reality that is distorted by shame and fear, and an imagined ideal steeped in fantasy. The juxtaposition of these two concepts creates tension as I create the work. I experience an unrelenting pull to balance the ugly or unsettling with the beautiful – bitter disreality and a deep longing for something better. In this way, my work alternately acts as a vessel for escapism and as a method of intrinsic exploration. Figures reside in isolated, vaguely otherworldly bubbles, shielded from reality.
Placelessness and isolation are strong themes in my work. I often feel a lack of belonging, and that disconnectedness is mirrored by the solo figures and their highly ambiguous surroundings. The plants, leaves, and vines are intended to read as a marked cadence of slow growth that will render the subjects increasingly entombed as time wears on. As the figures seem unaware of the impending intrusion of plant life and its inevitable ensnarement, a parallel may be drawn to the slow, but steady toll taken from living in a morally challenging and psychologically draining technological world.
See more of Rachel’s work online at https://rachelhermes.com/ on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rachelhermesart/ and on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rehermesart/
SARA GRANT
Sara Grant is a Midwest based, visual artist and mother of three. She has two boys and a girl. Being a mother is her ultimate joy, but her art is where she is able to find her peace. Her current medium of choice is color pencil. Throughout her life, she has also enjoyed working with mixed media, clay and her first love photography.
Sara has had a lifelong passion for art. In her most recent body of work, she focuses on emotionalism with a realistic drawing style. She is currently working from her studio for upcoming shows. She is looking forward to the future and her continuing evolution as an artist.
See more of Sara’s work online at https://www.sgrantatelier.com/ on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085041624491 and on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sgrantatelier