Twilight serves as a liminal time, between day and night - where one is 'in the twilight zone, in a liminal nether region of the night'. The middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition.
Rachael Adams is a painter who invites us to consider the status of the people, places and events that populate her pictures, whether they exist in direct or abstract realms, in personal or shared experiences.
Intrigued by the secret places in our society. People and their affairs. Secret and purely private settings exposed. Using familiar aspects of ordinary life, documenting it in pictures and undertaking a representational history. A compulsion to record events that were over long ago or happening now.
Liminality: The transitional period or phase of a rite of passage, during which the participant lacks social status or rank, remains anonymous, shows obedience and humility, and follows prescribed forms of conduct. The 'Baseline Shift and the Post-Modern Landscape' paintings were shortlisted for the 2010 National Open at Chichester, and through to the second round of The Jerwood Fellowship application.
The sequence of events leading up to becoming an emerging artist: Art School, London MA , Saatchi purchase, wealthy parents funding studio & materials and paying rent on flat, Lotto win, John Moores first prize, job to pay rent/mortgage, time to bring up family, ability to stay focussed until kids are grown up, ability to not be psyched out by being middle-aged, thus losing youthful confidence, and start where you left off twenty-odd years ago.
Rachael Adams is an artist, predominantly a painter. Soon after graduating from Brighton (Fine Art, Painting) in 1986, she expanded her practice to include typography, photography and graphic digital media.
Being a twenty-first century woman. A fighter for equality. A caring, nurturing mother. An independent business-woman.
I am working class, of the rural, manual kind; secondary school educated, without qualification or social status. I became Art School educated. Art School introduced me to new ideas and ways of seeing. I write lists and draw diagrams, constantly trying to capture and contain the sheer volume of stuff I'm now interested in, but can never quite grasp.
A Fine Art Project made up of 49 canvasses, each measuring 1 metre x 1 metre. The Artist seeks validation through a process of reason and example. The construction of a narrative through a series of single images.
The Scrutineer offers this guide for a discerning audience. The Scrutineer doesn't purport to be an academic or critic. The Scrutineer has an offbeat approach which can always, ultimately, be justified...
A visual film companion, a chart, a map plucking out and exploring themes. A piece of artwork that could lay unfolded across your lap as you watch the great Tennessee Williams film 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'.
The Scrutineer tutored in Fine Art & Visual Communication at Northbrook College, Worthing for over 10 years (often under the guise of Studio Support).
Drawing, even when it appears disconnected from an artist's usual practice, continues to inform and play a significant part in visualising ideas and in understanding the fundamentals of aesthetic choice.
"They're heading toward the ship!" he said, standing on the bridge of the space-ship in The Fifth Element...
Purchase 'The Original Film Map', giclée prints of Rachael's paintings and graphic work, and copies of the two volumes of autobiography of the famous cinematographer, David Watkin, (designed by the Scrutineer).
Rachael Adams is a contemporary painter, having spent recent years as a practising design professional.
