Closer Than Before Painting

Rachel’s deep affinity with the natural world, and an appreciation for its beauty and diversity, informs powerful expressive abstracts, telling simple stories of complex issues. Rachel Hayhurst is an English-Australian, Sydney based, abstract artist, with a BAA (first class honours/summa cum laude) in Commercial Art. Working predominantly in acrylic, with medium and mixed media to build depth and relief texture, she translates experiences, memories and emotions, into conceptual complex layers. Many of the marks, shapes and contours in Rachel’s work represent those seen only from the air, sights otherwise unseen, a by-product of many hours travelling coast to coast. Rachel’s current work explores Australia’s unique ecosystem, its diverse topography and colour, taking collectors on a journey of aerial inspired views of land and sea. The spiral features in her current work; a subtle symbol for evolution, our relationship with, and impact on, the environment hoping that society can appreciate, conserve and nurture it before it’s too late. Rachel’s work has evolved from detailed technical works to complex but freer compositions. She blends traditional techniques with a modern twist, via an array of medium and applicators including random, everyday objects. Feeling her way across the canvas, the journey is as important for Rachel as the final destination. Her current 3D relief texture work is a visual and tactile journey, best enjoyed in person. This is 'art you'll want to touch'.