Meant to elicit quick, intuitive responses, Short Answer Sunday will introduce readers to a wide variety of artists, educators, writers, curators, art enthusiasts and art adjacent individuals whose inclinations I admire. With the intent of getting to know the person behind the artwork as well generating new avenues to artistic discovery, participants may respond with only a few words or an artist’s name, always with the opportunity to elaborate if they wish!
What a delight to get lost in a painting, to be confused and amused and surrender to color, form, pattern, light. Rachel Jeffers’ painterly still lifes offer so much of this smart, giddy, retinal pleasure. Sinks & dishes, lunches about to be eaten, a fried egg in a luminous skillet (the sleepy, muted spatula next to this orange glow really gets me), floral arrangements, slinking house cats, puzzles in process, and the reflective glow of Christmas lights (a personal favorite) are all explored and elevated in Rachel’s compositions. The paintings’ surfaces contain traces of the painting process, in which marks and forms are built, layered, or obliterated over time (sharing a bit of kinship with Richter’s Tisch).
The subjects in Rachel’s paintings may be casual domestic scenes, however they are developed in such a way that they become extraordinary worlds. In these worlds, mimesis and playful expression mingle, and pictorial depth expands and collapses. In her interview, Rachel shares that she would like to live in one of Vuillard’s interiors for a week (fully support this). If given the opportunity, I would like to live in one of Rachel’s paintings and I’d choose this one. Just look for me in the middle, playing in the paint.
Last week, I saw Rachel’s phenomenal show Monday Alchemy at Foyer and highly recommend that all those in the Richmond area make a trip to see her work in person. The show is up through May 29, with an artist talk on May 21 . A friend of the blog, Rachel was also interviewed on Art Habit by Nikki in 2023 (check it out, if you missed it). I so appreciate Rachel’s honest and insightful responses for Short Answer Sunday and I know that you will, too.
For more about Rachel Jeffers and her work, head on over to her website and follow her on Instagram.
xo, Lauren
Name: Rachel Jeffers
Occupation: Artist
Astrological data: Scorpio sun, Virgo moon, Taurus rising
Hometown: Tennessee
Current location: Richmond, VA
Other than Instagram, how do you find new-to-you artists?
When artists I like are in group shows, I look up the other artists in the show, which often leads me to more galleries, and then to more artists.
An artwork that makes you laugh?
The Ham by Paul Gauguin. The first time I saw this at The Phillips Collection, I was fresh out of grad school, and going through a lot of turmoil about what painting is for. The message I had absorbed was that for art to be meaningful, it had to be ‘Important’. I turned the corner and came upon this absurd painting - of course still life has been around forever, but there was something so surprising about the formality with which he treated a slab of ham. This painting reminded me that there are many ways for painting to have meaning.
An artwork that makes you cry?
I have a hard time looking at Picasso’s Guernica.
Most underrated artist?
An artwork that you’d like to live inside for a week?
Any of Vuillard’s interiors. I’d especially like if I could blend into the wallpaper and just observe without being noticed.
An artist whose work you can’t stop thinking about?
Lisa Sanditz has been a favorite since I saw her show Sock City at CRG Gallery in 2008.
What’s your favorite characteristic in an artwork?
Color, evidence of the hand, seeing residue of the painter’s decision-making process, and ideally, a composition that arrives at an unexpected solution in combining all of these elements
What’s an artwork that doesn’t look like art?
I really like Richard Tuttle’s work.
Fav monograph or art book?
Drawings of Jim Dine
Cindy Sherman The Complete Untitled Film Stills
Tina Barney Theater of Manners
Alex Katz Collages
The Hours of Catherine of Cleves
Fav museum or gallery in your current location?
VMFA
An artwork that packs a spiritual punch?
Alison Hall’s paintings. You have to see them in person. Fra Angelico Entombment
An artwork that you’d like to see before you die?
I would’ve answered Impression Sunrise by Monet, but I got to see that last year when it came to DC. Another answer would’ve been Sargent’s The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit but I saw that in Boston in 2019. I think next on my list has to be Matisse’s Woman with a Hat.
What art material do you love to nerd out on?
Color wheels and color charts. My training in color theory was based on the Munsell System. It reminds me of a lot of musical scales and music theory. I don’t understand why everyone isn’t as excited as I am about color wheels.
What was the last thing that you listened to in the studio?
I’ve had Grimes’s 2020 album, Miss Anthropecene on a constant loop for the past couple of months.
What’s a book that changed your life?
The Alphabet Versus the Goddess by Leonard Shlain
What song, book, podcast or film do you think everyone should know about?
2 books that made a huge impact on me are Deborah Tannen’s That’s Not What I Meant! and You Just Don’t Understand
They’re not art books, but they’re about language, and the subtle differences in communication styles that lead to misunderstandings. I love anything to do with linguistics, grammar, and psychology. It’s one thing I really enjoy about painting, the infinite number of ways there are to say one thing.
❤
Rachel Jeffers holds an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art's Mount Royal School of Art and a BFA from Columbus College of Art and Design. She studied with Turps Correspondence Course and is now a course mentor. Her work has been exhibited throughout the Eastern US, with recent appearances at Shockoe Artspace, Stay Home Gallery, and My Pet Ram. Her current solo show, Monday Alchemy, is on view at Foyer Gallery until May 29. She is a member of Zeuxis: A Collective of Still Life Painters. She lives and works in the Richmond, VA area.
You can find out more about Rachel Jeffers and her work on her website and on Instagram.
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