I see our environment and landscape as open systems worked on by outside forces, not exclusive of ourselves. My work grapples with topics, such as climate change, land use/development, and their connection to memory. By paying close attention to a small aspect of the system, I work to reveal the whole through an analysis of its parts.
Many of the projects I undertake that employ clay, video projections, and sounds to create layered pieces. I started creating ephemeral artworks in 2013 and have continued to do so in various capacities since. Change, decay, and regeneration are central content to these artworks in which the subject matter is our environment and our changing relationship to it. What is defined as ‘nature’ can be a variety of things, from a parking lot to a garden to a forest. These artworks are often driven by a question, and through the process of making more questions arise. I do not see the finished works as answers but a way to share an experience that possesses the complexity of these topics. Our landscape has been shaped for billions of years, but more recently human’s decisions have left scars. How can humans learn to have more reciprocal relationships with our planet and each other versus one of extraction?
These ideas are not new, indigenous cultures have and continue to teach and share knowledge in the importance of reciprocity and interconnectedness.
I credit these books for the knowledge they have imparted on me :
Colors of Nature, Culture Identity and the Natural World – Edited by Alison H. Deming and Lauret E. Savoy
Trace – Lauret Savoy
Braiding Sweetgrass & Gathering Moss - Robin Wall Kimmerer
Pollution is Colonialism – Max Liborion
As Long as the Grass Grows – Dina Gilio Whitaker
Plants have so much to give us all we have to do is ask – Mary Siisip Geniusz
Lives and works in Carlisle, PA with her husband (Mitch Shiles) and son.
instagram: @rje01
Many of the projects I undertake that employ clay, video projections, and sounds to create layered pieces. I started creating ephemeral artworks in 2013 and have continued to do so in various capacities since. Change, decay, and regeneration are central content to these artworks in which the subject matter is our environment and our changing relationship to it. What is defined as ‘nature’ can be a variety of things, from a parking lot to a garden to a forest. These artworks are often driven by a question, and through the process of making more questions arise. I do not see the finished works as answers but a way to share an experience that possesses the complexity of these topics. Our landscape has been shaped for billions of years, but more recently human’s decisions have left scars. How can humans learn to have more reciprocal relationships with our planet and each other versus one of extraction?
These ideas are not new, indigenous cultures have and continue to teach and share knowledge in the importance of reciprocity and interconnectedness.
I credit these books for the knowledge they have imparted on me :
Colors of Nature, Culture Identity and the Natural World – Edited by Alison H. Deming and Lauret E. Savoy
Trace – Lauret Savoy
Braiding Sweetgrass & Gathering Moss - Robin Wall Kimmerer
Pollution is Colonialism – Max Liborion
As Long as the Grass Grows – Dina Gilio Whitaker
Plants have so much to give us all we have to do is ask – Mary Siisip Geniusz
Lives and works in Carlisle, PA with her husband (Mitch Shiles) and son.
instagram: @rje01
C.V.
Rachel Eng
Education
2013 M.F.A. Ceramics, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO
2010 B.F.A. Ceramics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
Solo Exhibitions
2024 (forthcoming Oct) Compound, Olin Gallery, Washington & Jefferson College, PA
2023 Unearth, Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, GA
2023 Debris, Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, OH
2022 Deliberate Pace, Jane Hartsook Gallery, GHP, New York, NY
2021 residue, Visual Arts Gallery, Depauw University, Greencastle, IN
2020 to displace something, Flecker Gallery, Suffolk Community College, Long Island, NY
2019 re-orienting, Schmucker Gallery, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA
2018 existing side-by-side, Sykes Gallery, Millersville University, Lancaster, PA
2018 even out, Woskob Family Gallery, State College, PA
2017 Irreversible Results, Trout Gallery, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA
2017 Of Yet, Goodyear Gallery, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA
2016 Aggregations, Emmanuel College, Boston, MA
2015 Artist Residency Exhibition, Mudflat Studio, Somerville, MA
2015 Limitless, Inside Out Gallery, Somerville, MA
2013 Stay on the Path, CU Art Museum, Boulder, CO
2010 EIIRP, Patterson Gallery, University Park, PA
Two Person Exhibitions
2021 Remnant with Chelsey Luster, Allens Lane Art Center, Philadelphia, PA
2014 New Work with Ashley Williams, Directions Gallery, Fort Collins, CO
2011 Crossing Lines with Mitch Shiles, Arthaus, State College, PA (two person)
2011 Manifested with Jennifer Degges, Art Alliance, Lemont, PA (two person)
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 the octagon: textiles and tenets, Under the Bridge Art Space, North Miami, FL
2024 Ashtrays: Class or Trash, Abode, Richmond, VA
2023 Shifting Ecologies: Contemporary Artists and the Environment, Maguire Art Museum, Merion Station, PA
2023 AIM Biennial, 56 locations in South Florida, Curated by william cordova, Amy Rosenblum-Martin, Gean Moreno, Marie Vickles
2023 Material Time, Park Towne Place, Philadelphia, PA
2023 Transformative Craft, Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA
2022 Home/Body, 3 Dots Downtown, State College, PA
2022 Cultivating Space, Rowan University Art Gallery, Glassboro, NJ
2022 McColl Artists in Residence Exhibition, McColl Center, Charlotte, NC
2021 Korean International Ceramic Biennale, Gyeonngi Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Icheon-Si, South Korea
2020 Distant Ceramics II, Juror Shoji Satake, Online
2020 The Clay Studio National, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
2020 Open Air, Alexey Von Schlippe Gallery at UConn, Groton, CT
2019 Animilia, Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY
2019 Knows No Bounds, Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL
2019 Anthrocenes, Little Berlin, Philadelphia, PA
2019 Landscapes & the Unbuilt, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY
2018 Woods to Water, Germantown Academy, Philadelphia, PA
2018 Ball Snake Ball, Curated by Roberto Lugo & Sarah Fritchey, Artspace, New Haven, CT
2018 Art of the State, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA
2018 NES Alumni Exhibition, Deiglan Gallery, Akureyri, Iceland
2018 SUPERMUD/FUTUREMUD, Union Projects, Pittsburgh, PA
2017 Anthrobotanical, Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Philadelphia, PA
2017 Ceramic, Sanctuary, Street Road Artists Space, Cochranville, PA
2017 3000 g from N. 65° 49' 15.513, B-galleria, Turku, Finland
2017 POC2, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD
2017 NCECA Emerging Artist Exhibition, NCECA Conference, Portland, OR
2016 Made in Allston, Gallery 224, Harvard University, Allston, MA
2016 Changing Allston, Crossings Gallery, Harvard Ed Portal, Allston, MA
2016 Conceptual Clay, Juror: Emily Zilber, Brookline Arts Center, Brookline, MA
2016 NCECA Exhibition Now & Then, Kansas City Museum, Kansas City, MO
2016 Boston Does Boston, Proof Gallery, Boston, MA
2015 Allston/Brighton Exhibition, Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Boston, MA
2015 Tangles and Tangents, Hyperlink Gallery, Chicago, IL
2015 NCECA Exhibition Mudflat Artist Residency, Mudflat Studio, Somerville, MA
2014 Dashing and Crashing, Hyperlink Gallery, Chicago, IL
2014 Ceramics en MASSe, Bunker Hill Community College Gallery, Boston, MA
2014 Small Favors IX, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
2014 Aisthesis, Carbondale Clay Center, Carbondale, CO
2013 Sound Created the Ear, Pirate Contemporary, Denver, CO
2012 19th San Angelo National Ceramic Competition, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, TX
2012 Mindpool, Next Gallery, Denver, CO
Publications, Reviews, Bibliography:
2023 Walczuk, Niko, “Fifteen local artists in Shifting Ecologies at Saint Joseph’s University”, Artblog
2023 Turner, Brett, “Springfield Museum of Art Opens 'Debris' Installation.” Springfield News
2022 Johnson, Garth, “Gathering” Catalog Essay
2022 Dube, Ilene, “Garden of Earthly Delights? Artists in Rowan University Art Gallery Examine the ‘Cultivated Space’.” Jersey Arts Features
2022 Valcourt, Chelsea, “Art Gallery’s “Cultivated Space” Explores the Human to Nature Connection.” The Whit Online
2020 Halsey, Julia, “Art on Long Island - Five Exhibitions in February 2020.” Hamptons Art Hub
2019 Flynn, Anne-Gerard, “Public Invited to Participate in art-in-a-day event at Amherst College.” MassLive
2017 Catanese, Christina, “Plants and People Connect through Art” Roxborough Review
Carroll, Angela N., “People of Color. People of Clay at Baltimore Clayworks Folds Memory, History, and Identity into the Earth.” Citypaper
2017 Art Farm Anthology. Newburgh NY, Five Oaks Press, 2017.
2017 “Ephemerality & Permanence”. NCECA Conference Journal, vol. 38, 2017, pp.34-35.
2017 Hunter, Stanton. “Creativity Through Curiosity.” Ceramics Monthly, 5 Dec. 2016, pp. 36–39.
2016 Leigh, Rhiannon, “Planning the Improbable, Sketching the Impossible” Artscope,
2015 “Featured Artist for April 26” by Frank Juarez Gallery and Grey Matter Gallery
2014 “Upfront Section”, Ceramics Monthly, June
Curatorial Experience
2024 What is in between, Glen Allen Cultural Arts Center, Glen Allen, VA
2019 What is in between, Richbrau Brewery, Richmond, VA
2018 Expanse, New Art Center, Newton, MA
2018 Exposure, GBBN Architects, Pittsburgh, PA
2015 The Longest Distance Between Two Places, Co-curated with Ashley Williams, Hyperlink Gallery, Chicago, IL
Collections & Commissions
Gyeonggi Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Icheon-si, Republic of Korea
Peninsula College Ceramics Collection, Port Angeles, WA
Robert J. Buford Private Collection, Chicago, IL
Mead Art Museum + Q Center, Amherst College, Amherst, MA
South Cove Community Health Center, Boston, MA
Betty Woodman Study Collection, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Albert Alhadeff Private Collection, Boulder, CO
Awards, Scholarships, & Residencies
2022 Windgate Fellow, McColl Center, Artist Residency, Charlotte, NC
2021 Windgate Fellow, CFEVA Emerging Artist Fellowship, Philadelphia, PA
2021 Puffin Foundation Grant
2019 Studio Kura Artist Residency, Itoshima, Japan
2019 Invited Artist Residency, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, ME
2019 Dickinson College CSE Sustainability Education Grant
2018 Curatorial Opportunity Program, New Art Center, MA
2017 Art Farm Residency, Nebraska
2017 NES Artist Residency, Iceland
2017 NCECA Emerging Artist Award
2016 Dickinson College Creative Grant
2015 Somerville Arts Council Visual Arts Grant
2014 Artist Residency at Mudflat Studios
2013 Neuman Family Fellowship (Fall)
2013 Neuman Family Fellowship (Spring)
2012 Brooks Fellowship to attend Anderson Ranch Arts Center
2009 Kiki Smith Fellowship to attend Haystack Mountain School of Arts
Teaching Experience
2024 Associate Professor, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA
2017-2023 Assistant Professor, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA
2016-17 Visiting Assistant Professor, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA
2014 Instructor, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
2013 Continuing Ed Instructor, 3D Foundations, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO
Lectures and Workshops
2022 Virtual Artist Talk, Greenwich House Pottery, New York, NY
2022 Virtual Artist Talk, Schlow Library, State College, PA
2022 Artist Talk, Mint Museum, Randolph, NC
2022 Visiting Artist Lecture, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
2021 Virtual Visiting Artist Lecture, Peninsula College, Port Angeles, WA
2021 Virtual Visiting Artist Lecture, Macalester College, Saint Paul, MN
2021 Virtual Visiting Artist Lecture, Concordia University, Quebec, Canada
2020 VirtualVisiting Artist Lecture, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC
2018 Visiting Artist Lecture, Millersville University, Lancaster, PA
2018 Visiting Artist Lecture, Penn State University, University Park, PA
2017 National Clay Week Demonstrating Artist, CALC, Carlisle, PA
2017 Visiting Artist Lecture, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA
2016 Visiting Artist Lecture, Emmanuel College, Boston, MA
2015 Visiting Artist Lecture, Office of the Arts at Harvard, Harvard University, MA
2014 Tuttle Talk, Mudflat Studios, Somerville, MA
2014 Visiting Artist Lecture, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Related Experience
2021 Guest Juror for Distant Ceramics III, online exhibition
2021 Guest Summer Librarian, Little Free Library 19330
2019 Guest Juror for Gettysburg College Student Exhibition
2019 Guest Juror for Penn State Campus Arts Initiative
2017 Guest Editor for Iceview Magazine Vol. 2, Skagaströnd, Iceland
2014-16 Ceramics Studio Manager/Technician, Brookline Art Center, Brookline, MA
2013 Studio Assistant, Kim Dickey Studio, Boulder, CO
2011 Studio Assistant, Jeanne Quinn Studio, Boulder, CO