ARTIST STATEMENT - RACHEL WEBB

May 2022

Interaction with nature is my main source of joy and inspiration, and I deepen that relationship by embarking on shamanic journeys to connect with the spirits of plants, trees and animals. Many of these paintings were initiated in a ritual way, a journey becoming an invitation to the spirits to supply visual ingredients for the work (I am not concerned with the objective reality of these experiences. A bird once told me I have no idea what reality is…)

 In 2021 I began to paint abstract patterns on wooden panels - based on patterns and textures I see in nature and the emotions that this Leitrim landscape provokes in me. More recently the patterns are becoming embedded in landscape images, highly stylised and brightly coloured but still incorporating elements I observe in the physical world. All of these paintings are about a spiritual connection with the environment - weaving together the outer forms discovered in woods, meadows and bog with my inner world - to communicate the sensual pleasure, delight and even, sometimes, awe and ecstasy, that the order and chaos, rhythms and cycles of the natural world inspire in me. My influences include Huichol yarn paintings, Native American art, Northern European mythology, Matisse, Chagall, Leonora Carrington, tarot cards, tree worship, the science of fungal networks and the Norwegian band Wardruna.