Rachel Grove

Biography

My practice involves three main themes. Self-portraiture, the urban landscape and political abstracts focusing on the theme of war and peace. I tend to have different approaches dependent on what I am painting. I enjoy painting portraits both figuratively and formal as well as more expressive. A portrait can end up with thick layers of paint or can be smooth, I let the painting process to take effect. I am constantly developing in this area alternating between more abstraction and more figurative. A portrait to me is more than a mere likeness, but can delve into the many facets of self, cutting to the core of ones existence.Hence my portraits can take on many different forms and guises. I do however also enjoy painting portraits that are less about gestural mark making but more about the subject itself. It is apparent to me however that I keep returning to portraiture as this is one area that challenges me the most.
Urban scenes tend to be painted using the formal elements of painting, where I am often drawn to scenes that simply catch my eye in the everyday.

Recently I have been developing a series of works reflecting on COVID-19.