When we ran across Rachel Trusty's art, we did a double-take since we had pinned one or two of these images as the original photos in Pinterest! Clearly, our partnership for Issue 30 was meant to be. Here we chat with Rachel about how she first became inspired, the process she goes through to create her art from these found photographs, and her future plans for this and her other series. Enjoy!
How did you first become inspired to create the FRIENDS AND LOVERS SERIES?
I have always loved drawing portraits and figurative work. Outside of commissions, I have mainly focused on women as my subject matter. When I was getting an MFA, my research focused mainly on the Feminist art movement and the new techniques like fiber arts and performance art that those women brought into the art world. This research spilled over into looking at the Gay and Lesbian art movements of the 1970s as well. I was interested in commonalities in themes, materials, and processes between the groups. Lesbian artists were largely excluded from the Feminist art movement for similar reasons that the Lesbian activists were excluded from the mainstream Feminist movement. The major movements felt that having Lesbians (or lesbian imagery) associated with them would delegitimize them. The Lesbian artists during this time began using metaphors and symbols in their work to represent their bodies, relationships, and desires. Ideas and feelings were coded in a variety of ways – like the floral imagery of Georgia O’Keefe or the laying of text and images by Louise Fishman. I wanted to make a series that portrayed relationships in a representational way. I began digging out old photographs from different online sources. The photographs are such powerful objects in themselves. I wanted the series to be tender, intimate, and nostalgic. Some of the paintings are really overt with women kissing. In others, the relationship between the women is ambiguous. I really enjoy showing the collection as a whole because I feel that the different images inform each other. Lesbian artists were largely excluded from the Feminist art movement for similar reasons that the Lesbian activists were excluded from the mainstream Feminist movement. Where do you find the images you use?
Images that I have used for the Friends and Lovers series come from different online photography archives. I am very careful to not use copyrighted photos from official archives like the Herstory Lesbian Archive in Brooklyn, NY. For my new series Mended Memories, I have been purchasing photographs from eBay, Etsy, and local thrift stores. Owning the original photographs gives me more freedom on what I can do with the objects. It is difficult finding original photos of women embracing or kissing though. Most of my acquisitions show more downplayed sentiments like hand-holding or more friendly situations. 
Rachel Trusty at the opening of her solo exhibit, Summer Crush, at the Lawrence Arts Center. photo credit: Mike Hannah
How do you create your paintings from these found photographs?
I have always loved drawing – specifically drawing on wood panel. I like the sturdiness of the panel, the smooth texture that the panel provides, and how forgiving the surface is when mistakes are made. I begin the paintings with a full drawing of the image with graphite. This serves as the “underpainting” that you would usually create with oil. I spray the entire drawing with matte, clear spray paint to seal it. Many of my paintings have ink on them. I apply the ink layer after the drawing is sprayed. The rest of the painting is finished with oil paint. Some of the layers are done as thin glazes, to barely tint the image. The backgrounds are usually thicker layers of oil. Sometimes the paintings require small details, which I apply with colored pencil. I love working with a variety of media. I think each different medium has pros and cons and I try to apply them where they will work the best. At this stage I rarely make work with a single medium. I like the flexibility and variety I get with multiple materials. I am also a big texture person. How the paint or pencil interacts with light – the combination of reflectivity and matte textures – is really appealing to me. |
What do you plan to do with this collection (continue to exhibit, create a book, print on things)?
I have been pretty excited about positive reception this collection has had. I have had two solo exhibitions with this series, one at the Lawrence Arts Center (Lawrence, KS) and one at the Resident Arts Gallery (Columbia, MO). I was also excited to be chosen to be a part of the “Then: Here/Now” group show at the Living Arts Center in Tulsa, OK. I plan to keep showing the work this fall in different group shows along with my new work from the Mended Memories Series. I will have a solo show that will include both series in February back in my home state Arkansas at the Thea Foundation Gallery (North Little Rock, AR). It’ll be interesting to see how the work is received in Arkansas. I have created some postcards and notecards with images of the work. I will try and make a 2020 calendar with some of the favorites from this series. A book would be a great idea. A friend recommended that I create an artist book with the images and include narratives from real couples to accompany them. That would be a really lovely project.  Am I the Only One Who Remembers? -from the Mended Memories series
We love the extension you created with the associated series, MENDED MEMORIES, where you address how romantic relationships between two women have been, as you said in your Artist Statement, "purposely overlooked and erased" by using original photographs, this time adding ink ("bringing them back to life") and hand-embroidery, which you say "serves to rework, process, or embellish the original memory." The end result is very intimate. How did you decide to use these techniques?
Mended Memories really came from my love of these original photographs. I love creating the paintings, but I feel like the actual photographs have so much power by themselves. For the Mended Memories series, As I mentioned, I have purchased photographs. I re-photograph the originals because many are very small and brittle. I then reprint the photographs larger on photo paper. I use the same inks that I use on the paintings to hand-tint the photographs. I try and stick to historically accurate colors for the time period. Lastly, I hand-embroider patterns and details into the photographs with embroidery floss.  Rachel working in her studio
I love the contrasting textures in these works – how the glossy photograph contrasts the matte, cotton embroidery floss. I have been experimenting with a variety of approaches to the embroidery. Sometimes I add text, other times it is decorative embellishment or complex patterns. Lately, I have been cutting into the photographs as well to leave voids.
The embroidery lines can be a really powerful tool on the face of the photograph. It can be used to embellish the photograph and highlight certain things or in can be used to completely obliterate parts of the image. I see the embroidery as a woman’s mark making as she remembers and reworks the moment in her mind. What are you working on next? I spent this last year working on the Friends and Lovers series. I still have a few paintings on my list to make. This year I really want to focus on the Mended Memories series. I have 15 lovely photographs that are all painted and ready for embroidery details. Those photos are all along the same theme as the others and each features two women interacting. The last couple of photographs I purchased were a little off theme of that series. I have some different political plans for them. The current administration is problematic in so many ways (polite understatement) and I feel that some of my work should really address the major issues. I plan to use similar techniques as Mended Memories as far as sewing and painting onto original photographs. The messages will address other issues such as climate change, reproductive rights, immigration, and other important topics. We look forward to seeing it, and thank you (and your little dog, too) for talking with us. * |
To learn more about her work, please visit www.racheltrusty.com or check out @ratrusty on Instagram.