Rachel Favelle Art - Pop Surreal artist

Rachel Favelle is an Australian Pop Surreal artist, with a profound love of Visual Art that unfolded itself at an early age. Growing up in country Australia; surrounded by rugged mountain ranges, dusty roads and watering holes, Rachel spend most of her childhood exploring and making meaning of her environment. Coupled with the creative influence of her mother, who was an avid oil painter, she quickly became fascinated by the potential for Art to express those intangible experiences and narratives that unfolded in her mind as a child.

In 2000 Rachel pursued an academic career in art education, completing a degree in Secondary Art Education. Rachel’s creative art endeavours became oriented towards guiding and inspiring young people in the art industry and to this day she remains a practicing Visual Arts teacher. However, it was her earlier studies during her BVA in Illustration that kept calling her back years later for the need to tell her own stories and revisit that inquisitive mindset of childhood.

Consequently, in 2010 Rachel decided to focus on her own creative practice and since that time her artwork has been shown across Australia as well as international galleries in Portugal and the United States. She released her first children’s picture book, ‘The Bear Hug’ in 2018 and in 2019 Rachel showcased her international solo show in Chicago titled, ‘Out of the Velvet Blackness’ which explored childhood creativity and its decline in adulthood. Using oils as her medium, Rachel’s richly coloured and fanciful worlds, inhabited by quirky characters, imbue the works with narrative and a contemplative stillness. Early works were inspired by antiquated childhood toys, surreal environments and puns but as her work has developed it has become underpinned by a deeper exploration into the connection between environmental nature and human nature.

‘I grew up in a small country town near the Warrumbungle National Park. Sitting around campfires, riding down dirt roads and climbing trees to pick mulberries in my back yard opened my eyes to the beauty in nature. The environment I grew up in allowed me to interact with wildlife and appreciate the tranquility of nature. Many of my characters reflect this sense of solitude, a connection to their surroundings and the creatures that inhabit that environment.

Inspired by my research into fairytales and classic children’s literature during my Illustration degree, I have been intrigued by the art of storytelling. I seek to illustrate not only the impact of an environment but also a character’s internal moral dialogue. Each individual has the potential for light and shade, good and evil. It is this duality that I find intriguing.

While I have been focused on the storytelling of fairytales and mythology of other cultures in previous bodies of work, I have recently felt drawn back to the narratives and wonder of my own childhood in the country. Most importantly, you should never lose your sense of curiosity and your ability to dream. Through Surrealism I am given the avenue to do just that.’

If you would like to purchase a regular canvas for your wall, Rachel is currently represented by Blue Chip Investment Gallery, Art Lovers Australia, Blue Thumb and Singulart online galleries and has merchandise available for purchase from Etsy.