Rachel King Barker
about the artist
Rachel King Barker was born to freelance illustrator parents in Fort Worth, Texas. Both parents had their studios at home, so Rachel had the pleasure of growing up around art. Her mother taught her color theory and her father taught her how to assist with his professional drawings. As for their personal lives, her father shared his delight of old horror movies and the macabre with her while her mother was transfixed with Christology and Eschatology.
Rachel received her BFA from the University of Texas at Austin and her MFA from Columbia University. After graduate school she spent 7 years in Brooklyn followed by 6 years in Santa Fe. She moved back to Texas in 2013. Professionally Rachel is largely hermetic in nature, but she has made some cherished connections with artists she deeply admires. Most notably, she represented the Crown Chakra in one of Linda Mary Montano's Chakraphonics performances, and she was also commissioned by painter Alexis Rockman to paint his beloved cat Beatrice getting her fourth leg back in heaven. Rachel has always been fascinated by monsters, by which she includes all theological and fantastic archetypes, such as Pagan, Luciferian, and even the Christian Jesus and corresponding Father. Her art focuses on creating true icons from a blending of such mythologies with her imagination. She believes imagination and reality are inherently connected and valid, but as of yet she has not determined which precedes the other. |