Rachael Grad
Markham, ON
A former lawyer and mom of 3, I left practicing law to study painting full-time in New York City before transferring to OCAD University in Toronto, Canada .
MessageA mom of three and former lawyer, I studied and worked in the US, France, Italy, and Hong Kong before moving back home to Toronto, Canada. I left practicing law to study painting full-time at the New York Studio School and New York University before transferring to OCAD University. Focusing on colourful abstracted representational art, recently my art practice has expanded to incorporate digital painting and collage to assist my observational drawing and painting. I combine my experience as a mother, former lawyer, and traveler into my artwork.
My artwork has been shown in solo and group shows in Washington, DC, New York City, Venice, Italy, and the Toronto area. I hold degrees from Brandeis University (BA, Honors in Economics & Minor in French Literature), Duke University School of Law (Juris Doctorate), Sciences Po in Paris, France (Diploma, International Relations), and OCAD University (BFA in Painting and Drawing).
Statement
Art Statement, Rachael Grad
Motherhood is mayhem. My art subjects reflect parenting moments, and my painting technique is a reference to, and mocking of, art history movements such as the machismo of the Abstract Expressionist painters. Currently my art practice is driven by an obsessive-compulsive need to document my three kids and their perpetually changing debris (meaning their messes of toys, books, clothing, and crafts). Daily household and art routines, rituals, and schedules reflect my attempt to reign in the chaos of parenting. Numbers, habits, and repetition are crucial to my sanity.
There are 52 weekends in each year when my children's school, daycare, or summer camp are closed for 65 agonizing hours in a row. To symbolize the slow passing of parenting time, I created 52 digital collages each containing 65 artworks layered together in photoshop. The artwork layers include my postcard drawings, abstract colour paintings, and paint mark experiments with toys.
My recent paintings are loosely based on these collages and blur the distinction between representation and abstraction. Gestural paint marks use the bright colours found in toys and messes. Recent paintings combine my expressionist brushstrokes with toy marks like those used in my "Motherhood Hit Me Like a Train" series. Rolling a toy train across my artwork as a not-so subtle metaphor for being a mother artist. Toys have overtaken my home and my artwork, and they are always in mind and in my way. To express motherhood in body and gesture, I used a small toy train to paint lines across watercolour paper.
The mark making proved unexpectedly tiring for my arm and back. Ironically, working in this way caused the same physical exhaustion, aches, and pains as those I experienced after childbirth, as a mother to a newborn. I worked in short bursts and took many breaks while creating this painting. Resting alone and respite from one’s own kids is also highly recommended when mothering.
For my abstract watercolour on paper artworks, I reverse the ubiquitous toy train and turn it into a paintbrush. Repetitive marks starting from observation are a way of building up unclear layers to form abstraction. Loosely based on the collages, I’ve painted colourful portraits of stuffed animals and toys that serve as transitional comfort objects for children as they grow and learn independence from parents. I have been experimenting with scale though painting and collaging on canvas, paper and walls ranging in sizes 8” x 8” to 8’ x 6.’
Parenting moments are portrayed in my “Mommy Mayhem” abstract expressionist paintings and “Motherhood Hit Me Like a Train” line art using my children’s Thomas the Train toys as paintbrushes.
My artwork has been shown in solo and group shows in Washington, DC, New York City, Venice, Italy, Miami, Florida, and the Greater Toronto area. I live and work in Toronto, Canada.
Painting Process
To begin a new drawing or painting, I start by meditating in my studio, then drawing a compositional sketch with pencil or paint. In my art studio I work on multiple paintings and drawings at once over many sessions.
With drawings I work directly from life, sketching and drawing from observation. I've experimented with different drawing materials but am mostly using pencils (black and color) to draw. Building up then erasing marks is a big part of my drawing process. You can see eraser marks on the paper.
With paintings I experiment with different applications of color: washes of paint, bold brushstrokes and palette knife across the canvas or panel. Using my children's toys as paintbrushes is another frequently used art technique in my studio and home. My abstract paintings are very colorful and lively. Over time as I apply paint, the image becomes more abstracted. Each artwork has many layers and lots of texture built up over multiple painting sessions.
Resume/CV of Rachael Grad
Exhibitions
2022, GradEx 107, May 11 to 15, 2022, OCAD University, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1W1
2022, Ontario Archives and Ontario Society of Artists 150th Anniversary Art Exhibition, June 2nd to 13th, 2022, Ada Slaight Gallery, OCAD University, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1W1
2022, Digital works in I AM HERE: Home Movies and Everday Masterpieces, April 13th to August 14th, Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1G4
2022, The Living Earth, Mar. 31 to May 3, 2022, Heliconian Club, 35 Hazelton Ave. Toronto, ON, Canada
2021, Boom Holiday Art Show, Dec. 2, 2021 to Jan. 2, 2022, BOOM Contemporary, Artsy, Online
2021, Miami Art Week, JADA Art, Dec. 2 to 5, 2021, 1250 Normandy Dr, Miami, FL
2021, Let's Do Blue! Group Art Show, November 25, 2021 to March 30, 2022, Heliconian Club, 35 Hazelton Ave. Toronto, ON, Canada
2021, Mercedes Matters Award Show, 2021 NYSS Alumni Exhibition, Oct. 7 to Dec. 31, 2021, 122 Grand St, New York, NY
2021, "Encounter 2021," Sept. 2021, The Heliconian Club, Toronto, ON, Canada
2021, Alumni Exhibition Show, The New York Studio School on Artsy, Online
2021, Looking Out While Looking In, OCAD University and State University New York Genesco, Kunstmatricx, Online
2021, Self Portraits, The Heliconian Club, Toronto, ON, Canada
2021, Alone Together: Concert with Art, Poetry and Dance, Online
2021, Paintings and Prints, Hilton Toronto Markham Conference Centre & Spa, Markham, Ontario, Canada
2020-21, Brain Sculpture for The Yogen Früz Brain Project, Toronto, ON, Canada
2020, Roots & Belongings, Group Show, The Leslie Grove Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada
2020, One of a Kind Winter Show, Online
2020, Group Show, The Leslie Grove Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada
2020, ArtWalk in the Square, Juried Art Show, Online
2020, Alumni Exhibition Show, The New York Studio School on Artsy, Online
2020, Abstract Paintings and Art Prints, Cocoalatte, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2019, Colorful Abstract Paintings, Peter Paul and Company, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2012, The Art of Health and Wellness, Club Markham and eforea Spa Markham, Ontario, Canada
2011, Works, Group Show, Coemeterium of the Suola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista, S. Polo, Venice, Italy
2010, Patton Boggs LLP Group Show, Summer 2010, New York, NY, USA
2010, Twenty2, Group Show, Palazzetto Tito, Dorsoduro, Venice, Italy
2010, Eva’s Restaurant Group Show, New York, NY, USA
2009, Holiday Group Show, New York Studio School Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2009, Recent Artwork by Rachael Grad & Cristina Winsor, New York Studio School Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2008, Solo Exhibition, Skynear & Co. and Casa Oaxaca, Washington, DC, USA
2008, Solo Exhibition, Caramel, Washington, DC, USA
2008, Washington Studio School Annual Juried Student Group Show, Washington, DC, USA
1995, Art Gallery of Ontario Student Show, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Education
2022, BFA in Painting and Drawing (expected), OCAD University
2008-2010, Certificate Student, Painting and Drawing, New York Studio School
2010-2011, Participant, Master’s of Studio Art, New York University, Venice, Italy
2003, Duke University School of Law, J.D., Durham, North Carolina
1999, Brandeis University, BA (Honors) in Economics, Minor in French Literature, Waltham, Massachusetts
1997, Diploma, International Relations, Sciences Po, Paris, France
Collections
RBC Print Commission, 2022, Toronto, Ontario Canada
Altree Developments, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The Leo Baeck Day School, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Art in Private Collections in New York, NY, the Hamptons, NY, Washington, DC, Miami, Florida, London, England, and in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Memberships
Member, 2020 - Present, Partners in Art
Member, 2004 - Present, New York State Bar Association
Member, 2007 - Present, DC Bar Association
Awards
Mercedes Matter Award, 2021, New York Studio School Alumni Association Art Show
Francis Lea Ziegler Memorial Scholarship, 2021, OCAD University
Legal Issues in Museum Administration, Full Scholarship, 2010, American Law Institute-American Bar Association Course of Study
Merit Scholarship, 2008-2009, New York Studio School
National Award for Multimedia Project, Canadian High School Association, 1994
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