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

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
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
2023              Shifting Ecologies: Contemporary Artists and the Environment, Maguire Art Museum, Merion Station, 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
 
Selected Publications [including my artwork]:
2017                Art Farm Anthology, Five Oaks Press, October
                        Art Farm Anthology. Newburgh NY, Five Oaks Press, 2017.
2017                “NCECA Emerging Artist” NCECA Conference Journal, March
                         Eng, Rachel “Ephemerality & Permanence”. NCECA Conference Journal, vol. 38, 2017, pp.34-35. 
2017                “Creativity through Curiosity”, Ceramics Monthly, January
                          Hunter, Stanton. “Creativity Through Curiosity.” Ceramics Monthly, 5 Dec. 2016, pp. 36–39.
2015                “Featured Artist for April 26” by Frank Juarez Gallery and Grey Matter Gallery
                         “Rachel Eng – Boston, Massachusetts.” 365 Artists | 365 Days, 26 Apr. 2015, 365artists365days.com/2015/04/26/rachel-eng-boston-massachusetts/.
2014                “Upfront Section”, Ceramics Monthly, June
 
Selected Reviews of Exhibitions
2023               “Fifteen local artists in Shifting Ecologies at Saint Joseph’s University”, Artblog
2023                “Springfield Museum of Art Opens 'Debris' Installation.” Springfield, Springfield News Sun
2022                “Garden of Earthly Delights? Artists in Rowan University Art Gallery Examine the ‘Cultivated Space’.” Jersey Arts Features
2022               “Art Gallery’s “Cultivated Space” Explores the Human to Nature Connection.” The Whit Online
2020               “Art on Long Island - Five Exhibitions in February 2020.” Hamptons Art Hub, February
2017                “Plants and People Connect through Art” Roxborough Review, September
2017                “People of Color. People of Clay” Citypaper, June
2016                “Planning the Improbable, Sketching the Impossible” Space & Time, Artscope, March
                        Leigh, Rhiannon. “Planning The Improbable, Sketching The Impossible at Gallery 321.” Artscope
 
Curatorial Experience
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
2021                Gyeonggi Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Icheon-si, Republic of Korea
2021                Peninsula College Ceramics Collection, Port Angeles, WA
2019                Robert J. Buford Private Collection, Chicago, IL
2019                Mead Art Museum + Q Center, Amherst College, Amherst, MA
2016                South Cove Community Health Center, Boston, MA
2013                Betty Woodman Study Collection, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
2013                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
2017-present  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