In the Studio with Rachel Horner

Rachel Horner is a Baltimore-based artist who examines the complex entanglement between humans, the environment, and the world’s biodiversity. She was born in California, and currently lives in Baltimore, MD where she earned her M.F.A. from Towson University. She holds a B. S. in Art Education, and has taught Art since 2013, currently as a photography teacher at Glen Burnie High School. Her work is on view now in the Hal Gomer Gallery as part of the Evolution exhibit. Here’s Rachel talking about her work:

Bloom, Double Exposure on Aluminum, 20” x 30”

On becoming an artist: I was very lucky to have an amazing teacher in high school who taught me how to draw realistically. I was immediately hooked because I had drawn and made art a lot as a child, but hadn't really considered pursuing it until I had to take a Foundations of Art class to enroll in the Darkroom Photography class. The rest of my time in high school I took both Photo as well as Studio Arts because I became so passionate about both forms of art.

Duality

On becoming an art teacher: I really loved working in the darkroom so much that I spent my lunches senior year of high school making prints and getting as much time as I could in there. I knew everything was transitioning more to digital, so I wasn't sure exactly what I would pursue. I just knew I wanted to continue making and creating. Eventually one of my art teachers pushed me to consider becoming a teacher and the more I thought about it, sharing my passion just made sense.

On the intersection of art and nature: I have fallen into the hobby of plant collecting which really fuels my work! Years ago I took an interest in plants because I was so fascinated that there are some species that could grow an entirely new plant from a single leaf or a small piece of stem. Eventually I began noticing in my travels that the same plants I had as houseplants back home were monstrous and magnificent in their natural habitats. The more I learned about various kinds of plants, the more mesmerized I became. I began collecting the weirder and harder to find plants and took macro photographs of their leaves and stages of growth to embed into layered compositions in Photoshop as double exposures. I now have over 350 plants at home and am living in a miniature jungle of sorts.

Glaciers, Pouring medium, acrylic, ink, and salt on transparency with glass cloches, 10" x 10"

On travel: I love to travel & visit new places, try new food, and experience life as many places as I can. I think traveling is such a joy and a privilege, and would encourage everyone to visit somewhere new once it is safe to again, because we learn so much about life and the world experiencing it somewhere outside of where we already know and love.

On her current work in-progress: I always have a lot of projects going simultaneously because I fall in love with almost every material and media I try, so right now I am feeling very inspired to continue the environmental art series I have been building over the past 4 years in various media that comprised my MFA thesis exhibition Entanglement. Some days it means that I am trying to reproduce a favorite leaf of one of my plants in watercolor, other days it means planning my next paint pour or sculptural work. I also have a series I want to expand of hollow papercasts modeled after bones and natural forms. I am most inspired by the interconnection between all species across continents, and the fragile beauty of our relationships between every plant and animal that make up our shared biosphere.

Critical, Double Exposure on Aluminum, 24" x 24"

Advice to aspiring artists: Don't feel too much pressure to "find your style" or limit yourself by creating in a way that feels necessary to make sense to others. I feel that we view artists throughout history as though they made one kind of work, but along their way to the work they are most well known for they explored, grew, experimented, and often the look of their work changed dramatically through their life. The pressure to have a "style" and stick with it can stifle creativity and I think when we free ourselves of that burden and allow ourselves the freedom to make without any expectation of the final result or how it will fit in to the larger work we create, it can lead to the most authentic work where there will be visual similarities and connections because the artist and their mind is always behind the work.

See more of Rachel’s work at rachelhornerart.com or her art instagram is @rachelhornerart. Check out her plant collection on IG @bmorebotanical.