RACHEL PAXTON
"Birth,death and the journey in between. Movement and rest. Departure and return. Ripening and decay. The present moment and the eternal. These dichotomies, the primordial touchstones of the Jungian collective unconscious, evoke memory, the passage of time, and the cycle of life.
Nature itself is the archetype for the cycle of growth, decay and regeneration. Berries, fruits, a small bullfinch or a fragile butterfly, a solitary leaf or a branch are recurring motifs, metaphors for the transformation and continuum of nature’s universal rhythms. Fragments of sheet music imitate these patterns while portions of maps establish points of departure and return. Remnants of the past, whether a swatch of mattress ticking, a medieval tile, portions of tin ceilings, or gravestone rubbings reflect a bygone era of harmony between nature, religion, and craft.
Life’s journey is contradictory: an oarless boat beckons us to float freely, toward our destiny, while a chair entices us to rest and contemplate, to “come home”. A ladder leads us to spiritual ascension and transformation, or to climb higher while reaching for material possessions. The paintings weave together the rhythms and patterns of these polarities: they are both simultaneously conclusive and random. They juxtapose what can be known and what can never be known."
Rachel Paxton’s paintings and collages blend archetypes of nature and spirituality to explore life's universal rhythms and its contradictory journey. Fragments of maps, music, and historical motifs merge with natural phenomenon and Jungian symbols to create an altered visual world. Evoking memory, the passage of time, and the cycle of life, they juxtapose what can be known with what can never be known.
Rachel Paxton received a B.F.A from the Rhode Island School of Design and a MFA from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In addition to numerous group exhibitions, her work has been featured in solo shows in Rhode Island, California, New Hampshire and throughout Massachusetts.