UNITED STATES
Layers of Contradiction
Words by Rachel Henriksen
April 2021
“I always think that such a great weight with its tremendous pressure somehow has the task of forcing us into a deeper, more intimate layer of life so that we may grow out of it all the more vibrant and fertile.”
I began this series of paintings after stumbling across this quote by poet Rainer Maria Rilke. In light of recent events with the pandemic, political unrest, and social injustices, among many other things, I, like many, have witnessed grief and loss and the heaviness of sorrow. And I have yearned for a better way to mourn with those that mourn. As I began this work, the concept evolved, as it does continually throughout my process of making. There are elements in these paintings that have carried through from my previous bodies of work— an ongoing exploration of the grid, of repetition, of pattern, of color. And while the desire to develop and inspire greater empathy is at the core of my work, this series led me to an unexpected exploration of contradiction: the visual contradictions in the organic vs inorganic shapes, rigidity vs looseness, flatness vs dimension, vibrant vs muted, all became representations of the everyday contradictions we encounter. Whether in the conflicting emotions or desires we hold simultaneously within ourselves, or the incongruousness of facts presented to us from the polarized media, the world is full of opposing forces. But this opposition is inherent to being human, and it is in the space between the layers of contradiction that the weight is lifted.
Rachel Henriksen
Layers of Contradiction
acrylic and insulation foam on panel
20" x 24" x 3"
2021
Rachel Henriksen
Nuance of Feeling
acrylic on panel
21" x 21" x 3"
2021
Rachel Henriksen
Read Between the Lines
acrylic on panel
21" x 21" x 3"
2021
About The Artist
Rachel Henriksen is an artist currently based out of Utah, where she received her BFA in Studio Art from Brigham Young University in 2020. Henriksen’s interests as an artist lay in the porousness of culture, perception, and identity. Her current body of work, primarily painting and drawing though expanding into the realm of sculpture and immersive installation builds visual narratives that grow from an engagement with pattern and shape. The work provides a way to explore and process her experience, in relation to those of differing backgrounds, by establishing systems and hierarchies which are ruptured and interrupted to generate new forms for navigating visual experience. Henriksen aims to challenge the notion that identities and cultures, and our individual perceptions of the two, are unalterable, fixed. As she confronts, breaks down, and builds upon her ideals, she feels the freedom to construct hybridized and evolving forms. This process, and the corresponding forms that emerge, relate to the way her awareness evolves as she seeks for greater empathic connection and navigates the world visually, emotionally, and culturally.