Kelsey Dickinson in Conversation with Artist, Rachael Tarravechia
Rachael Tarravechia in her studio. Photo by Mariam Khalil.
When looking at works by Brooklyn-based artist Rachael Tarravechia, one is drawn to the contrasting qualities of both deep intimacy and the stark aloofness of the environments she recreates. Each interior has a distinctive touch, giving a snapshot of private places that hold narratives, pop culture references, and a human touch - sometimes including items left behind in a sudden moment. Yet, their stillness keeps us at arm’s length, preventing us from knowing what ever truly happened there.
Tarravechia works in a variety of mediums in painting and sculpture, often combing rhinestones and glitter into her pieces. In 2018 she received her BFA in Painting from Savannah College of Art and Design, and her work was recently featured in the two-person exhibition, If These Walls Could Talk, at Dinner Gallery in New York. Her debut solo exhibition in New York City, Wish You Were Here, opens the 23rd October at LAUNCH F18.
MADE IN BED contributor Kelsey Dickinson speaks with Tarravechia on the inspiration and influences that inform her work, the relationships we create with the spaces we occupy, and the evolution of her artistic process.
Jerry, 2021.
Acrylic on canvas.
Featured in the exhibition, If These Walls Could Talk, at Dinner Gallery in NYC.
Kelsey Dickinson: You recently closed a group exhibition at Dinner Gallery, If These Walls Could Talk, alongside artist Julia Jo. The works featured were inspired by photographs taken in your grandmother’s house, yet with the imagery of knives left behind they have an almost ominous feel. Can you tell us more about this body of work and the narrative within them?
Rachael Tarravechia: I am a huge horror fan—I love watching it, listening to it, or reading it. It is a genre that directly reflects whatever societies’ fears are at the time. In my paintings, I wish to create environments that at first seem eye-pleasing and happy but have enough subtleties within the piece to cause that feeling of peace to slowly fade away. It felt appropriate to include a big knife that would be seen in an 80’s slasher movie in [my grandparent’s] 80’s time capsule bathroom. A bathroom is a place where we are most vulnerable and exposed. Combining those two ideas felt like the right thing to do to create this narrative.
KD: What did it mean for you to paint spaces so familiar and close to you? Is that your typical process?
RT: I started painting interiors in 2017. They were much more collage-inspired at the time. Before, I would create these “dream rooms” by collaging different architecture together, going “shopping” on 1stDibs to see what furniture pieces I wanted to collage into the room, producing textiles and patterns, and all other elements in the environment. My Jerry and Jane paintings were the first time I followed a photograph so exactly, and it did feel different painting a space where I have been before. I spent so much time on the tile floors. I could imagine how the tiles felt beneath my bare feet in both the summer and winter. I really enjoyed having that extra connection with the paintings. For my upcoming show, Wish You Were Here, I am going to be using film photos that I took in Japan as reference photos.
Ultrafragola, 2020.
Acrylic, glitter, rhinestones, and paper on canvas.
121.92 x 121.92 cm.
KD: Much of your art references brand names and popular products, blatantly, but also subtly, such as featuring the Ettore Sottsass Ultra Fragola mirror. To recognise that reference one must be versed either in the world of Instagram or design. Are you thinking about the audience for a work when you are creating?
RT: Yes definitely. I do not really have an audience in mind while creating a work—I just create something that I would want to see. I was working on that painting with the Sottsass mirror, and Murano mushroom lamp, right when COVID-19 became really serious and everything started to close. It felt even more relevant then, since a lot more people were on their phones, at home, and buying things for their homes.
Honeymoon, 2020.
Acrylic, glitter, and rhinestones on canvas.
121.92 x 121.92 cm.
KD: Do you feel that this past year, which has influenced so much change on our world already, influenced a change in your work or even artistic process or philosophy?
RT: For sure, all of us spending so much more time at home has redefined a lot of our relationships with our spaces. I feel like my personal relationship with home has changed, thus changing the way I depict these spaces. I use more depth, gradients, warped perspective, and personal touches.
KD: Can you tell us more about your sculpture work?
RT: I started making rhinestone sculptures in 2017. I was holding onto objects that I used as reference for my paintings, and then would rhinestone the painting. Eventually, I realised, “Why not also rhinestone the actual object as well?”. Soon, the sculptures became food focused. Specifically, junk food. I had an eating disorder in the past, so I stopped eating these types of foods completely. I would bake a lot, so I could smell cupcakes and scones but never allowed myself to eat any of them. It was a way to get as close to the food as possible without eating it. Years later, I started making these sculptures and it was therapeutic.
The Red Studio (After Matisse), 2021.
Acrylic, glitter, rhinestones on canvas.
121.92 x 121.92 cm.
KD: What most inspires you?
RT: Dollar stores, disco music, old horror films, walking around aimlessly and just feeling the city, bike rides, tiki bars, bodegas, and talking to new people. Every time I meet someone new, my world view expands just a little bit more, and I am so thankful to live in a city like New York where most people you meet have something interesting to say.
KD: How do you hope your work will influence and inspire other artists?
RT: I hope that other younger artists can look at my work and think, “Oh, so I CAN do that”. That is what I think most of the time when I find artists that I really like. It is okay to use a lot of pink and glitter. I used to worry about alienating a male audience if my work comes off as too “feminine,” but I do not really care about that now. I am making what I want to make.
Lady, 2021.
Acrylic and glitter on canvas.
To be featured in Tarravechia’s solo show, Wish You Were Here, at LAUNCH F18.
KD: What is next for you?
RT: I have a solo show titled Wish You Were Here at LAUNCH F18 that opens the 23rd October! I am really excited about the body of work I have been creating for this show.
Thank you, Rachael.
Image courtesy of Rachael Tarravechia.
Visit Rachael Tarravechia’s website and Instagram to keep up with her work, and visit LAUNCH F18’s website for more details on Rachael’s upcoming solo exhibition, Wish You Were Here, in New York.
Kelsey Dickinson,
Contributor, MADE IN BED