Rachel Clites
Chesapeake Beach, MD
I am an artist, I have been creating in one form or another for as long as I can remember. I like find beauty in the world around me.
Message
A Maryland native, I began my career in the theatrical arts studying at the University of Maryland on a Jim Henson endowed scholarship. I left school and moved home and for ten years I work and ran a 501c3 theater company teaching people in my community from age 8-80 the love of art. Then a disability diagnosis from a nervous system disorder took away my ability to climb ladders, build sets, paint backdrops and stand on stage. So I pivoted. I accepted. I sat down, in front of an easel instead of a cast and crew, and began creating in a smaller way, a more personal way. I poured my thoughts and pain into it, and the art, the creation got me through. I have always believed that ideas and art must be shared and now I want to share my art with you.
Statement
As a mixed media modern artist, my creative journey is defined by a passion for experimentation and a deep curiosity for the expressive potential of diverse materials. My practice merges traditional techniques with contemporary theatrical approaches gained from my years of training and work in the theater, resulting in work that both challenges and celebrates the boundaries between mediums. I am drawn to the interplay of texture, color, and form, and I strive to create visual experiences that invite viewers to reconsider their relationship with the familiar and the unexpected.
I am an artist; I have been creating in one form or another for as long as I can remember. Life has thrown me a few curveballs, and every-time I have had to rebuild it has been in creating art that I have found my way through. I attended the University of Maryland on a scholarship endowed by the Jim Henson Foundation, as an adult I worked at a 501c3 nonprofit theater organization, Twin Beach Players, in a variety of capacities including the Artistic Director there for 7 years. Now with a degenerative illness that has taken away my ability to perform and made it unsafe for me to build and paint at that scale I am on a new path of life. Finding my way into a new professional field, yet a familiar one. I love taking the wild and wonderful skills I have learned working in non-profit theater over the years and applying it to a Modern Art medium. I try to find beauty and power from even the darkest of situations and source material.
I believe in art as a form of communication and connection. Through my work, I seek to engage viewers emotionally and intellectually, prompting questions about our world, society, and what is beautiful. My inspiration often comes from the books I have read or plays I love and the intersection of those concepts into of modern society. Whether creating large-scale installations or intimate works on paper, I am committed to exploring new methods and ideas, letting the process itself guide the outcome.
Ultimately, my goal is to bring as much beauty into this world for as long as I can. To use paint and a brush in the same way I used to use my voice and directing to form lasting messages for others to consider and discuss. I believe that artists tell the stories of our times, and I want to share my view and my voice with as many people as I can reach.