3 Photos
"Luneria," by Rachel Sard.
Rachel Sard with some of her hyper-realistic paintings of ordinary objects. JASON MANDELLA
"Stones," by Rachel Sard.
Rachel Sard’s hyper-realistic paintings of ordinary objects take on an otherworldly quality the longer you observe them.
Sard, who lives and works in Riverside, Connecticut, often draws inspiration from nature, allowing the shapes and colors of natural objects to blend into a larger whole. The subjects — stones, onions, oysters — are piled and scattered, depicting textures and colors to the point of abstraction. They are made more of palettes and patterns than individual parts.
And, yet, the subject, whether animal, mineral or vegetable, is treated with reverence. No detail is spared. Thus, we can enjoy any one corner of the painting as well as any other.
Sard holds both a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Washington University in St. Louis and a Master of Fine Arts from the New York Academy of Art, and has exhibited in venues such as The Brooklyn Museum, Flowers Gallery, and the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, where she had a solo exhibition, “Rachel Sard: Insofar.” One of her works is part of the permanent collection there.
While she has always been interested in making art, Sard said she didn’t meet her chosen medium until she was an undergrad.
“I’ve always been interested in making art but actually didn’t discover oil painting until college. I took an elective and fell in love with the medium,” said Sard.
As part of her process, Sard often lets the oils decide what subjects she will feature in her work, choosing what to paint based on whether it will allow her to work the way she likes. “My main inspiration is the paint itself. I love working with oil paint, and I select most of my subjects for the opportunities they afford me to use paint in the ways I enjoy most.”
Of course, Sard is influenced by the work of other artists, including Aleah Chapin and Alyssa Monks. Chapin’s portrait work and fine textures and Monk’s deft manipulation of the oils leave echoes in Sard’s earlier work, especially her paintings of animals and people.
Sard also has explored other mediums: “I’ll always return to drawing, and I do dabble in photography … but, mainly, oil paint.”
When asked which piece in the upcoming show was her favorite, Sard copped to recency bias and picked her most recent work. “The one I’m working on now — and will continue to work on down to the wire — is a large painting of a herd of sheep. It’s challenging and fun. But it’s not finished yet, so you’ll have to come to the show to check it out!”
While the show at the library is focused on realism, Sard also paints abstracts and portraits, showing a breadth of talent and a deep understanding of her subject. She expects to change up her style after this, returning to a more abstract run of paintings before coming back to realism again.
“Whenever I’ve read a lot of nonfiction I always have to take a break and read some fiction, and vice versa,” she said. “It’s sort of like a palate cleanser. Likewise, when I finish a very detailed representational piece, I find myself itching to do something looser and more abstract — a palette cleanser!
“So I’ll probably take a little break for that, but then I do have another realism show in the winter I’ll need to work toward,” Sard said.
The most cohesive aspect to Sard’s work thus far is earth-toned palettes with touches of color. “I almost always work with the same palette. I rarely feel compelled to deviate or bring in new colors. But I generally love sneaking hints of pale violet into swaths of canvas that are mostly earth tones.”
The Art Gallery at Quogue Public Library is presenting the works of Rachel Sard in a show titled “Rachel Sard: Albeit.” The show runs through August 7. Her artist’s reception is Wednesday, July 17, from 4 to 6 p.m. The Quogue Library is located at 90 Quogue Street in Quogue Village.
The gallery has special light-diffusing windows and a central bench where guests can sit and appreciate the works.
Volunteers from the community form the Art Gallery Committee. They search out local East End talent and host exhibitions throughout the year.
