| Based in: london Rachel Gadsden considers themes of decay, nostalgia and fragility during her artistic exploration of derelict sites including Cane Hill Asylum, Surrey, North Wales Hospital, Denbigh. The derelict space is the perfect metaphor for the physical and psychological nature of the human condition, and the decomposing building a tangible representation for the decaying body.
Rachel seeks to portray the trace of life that still exists despite the neglect and decay. Remaining heedful to how buildings can often mirror subjective experiences, Rachel explores the sites dereliction in such a way that it provides a metaphorical voice for those whom inside and outside are not merely architectural issues but human ones too.
Paintings, drawings, digital images and projections are made of found materials, stitching, and writing on paper, photographs and hair which are embedded into the surface of the work, to create rich metaphorical landscapes. Manipulated digital photographic imagery of documents collected from the site is pasted onto the canvas. Each additional transparent layer contributing to the evolving narrative and emulating the layers of history that are exposed as the building decomposes. The artwork captures the buildings struggle to survive and inevitable demise as the rot and decay infiltrates its soul, thus representing a tangible evocation of our own impermanence.
Rachel Gadsden gained a BA Degree in Fine Art at Wimbledon School of Art in 1998 and then received an AHRB Award to study for an MA in Fine Art at City and Guilds of London Art School in 2000. Since Graduating Rachel has worked on a number of demanding projects including a commission for Children of the Andes Charity, a residency at Huntercombe Young Offenders Institute, and a residency at Penallta Colliery in South Wales. With the support of the London Arts Board Go Award Rachel visited street children's projects in Colombia, and presented a solo exhibition of her experiences in Colombia at Bolivar Hall (Venezuelan Embassy) in May 2002. Rachel regularly participates in solo and group exhibitions in London and throughout UK. In December 2004, Rachel was awarded a 5000 Arts Admin Digital Media Bursary to develop her project about North Wales Hospital, a derelict asylum in Denbigh which closed in 1995. The BBC is following the project during the next year and has set up a web site which monitors the developments: www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/sites/arts/pages/denbigh-hospital.shtml
In March 2005 Rachel's Cane Hill Asylum (Surrey) collaborative project with writer Dylan Trigg was awarded Arts Council England funding. This project was also selected to be showcased by the Arts Council and the Royal Institute of British Architects as part of their Inside Out initiative during Architecture week in June 2005. Inside Out is a project, which looks at the relationship between disability and architecture. The Arts Council England South East, as part of Inside Out, will also setting up a web site to monitor the developments of the Cane Hill project: www.art-architecture.co.uk/insideout
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