Rachel Anne Znerold

Artist Statement

My love affair with the natural world first began with a rotting piece of wood. As a young girl, growing up in the country in Southwestern Colorado, I befriended a decomposing, moss-bedazzled, ancient log in my backyard, and would spend hours immersed in its magical micro-universes and mysterious inhabitants. I remember the first time I squinted into the lens of a microscope, or later, into a telescope that zipped me away to ride on the rings of Saturn and hopscotch through galaxies afar. I would get lost in the great depths of the untamed ocean whenever I would happen upon an aquarium, imagining myself flying through the reef and navigating the dangerous waters.

Even now, I often find myself mesmerized by my surroundings, wishing I could freeze-frame the rush of the here-and-now and share my sense of awe and wonderment of the earth. With a playful hand, my artwork becomes a frenetic meditation on one beautiful and miraculous moment, capturing that fleeting sideways glance, that blurred glimmer of emotion deep within the heart of the everyday. The universality of the organic shapes, colors and line invite the imagination to play with the infinite possibilities to be found within my paintings. The interconnectedness of the organic world, from the microscopic to the geological to the celestial, is a true testament to the majesty and mystery of the earth.