Elle Rachell

Artist Bio:

Elle Rachell is a mixed media and collage-focused artist in Westerville, Ohio. Elle has traveled a winding road toward life as an artist. She has long loved crafting, photography (beginning with her first 110 film camera!), music, and books filled with imaginative characters, especially science fiction. Elle has always had a love for people-watching, and much of her art has sprung from her daily observations. Now an empty nester with lots of time to create, Elle has grown to love a variety of mediums, including watercolor, acrylics, and pastels. Her art is multi-layered, often raw and textured, as is the human existence.

Elle has exhibited at All People Arts, The Priscilla Tyson Cultural Arts Center, and Emergent Arts in Columbus, Ohio. She had her first solo show, “Her+ Resilience at The Mansion 731 in June 2022 exhibiting 86 original works. Elle was featured in The Columbus Dispatch for her work in the Pots and Prints exhibit at All People Arts and for her current work “Connecting Through Stories” at The Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Sesquicentennial Exhibit.

Artist Statement:

I have a goal to create every day and each of these creations big or small influence my larger works in some way. I use every single medium that I like, and my likes change from time to time. I currently love to use acrylics, charcoals, and pastels which lend well to my non-traditional works that are a bit abstract without being too serious. I have a color palette that I love but prefer to be limitless when I am creating.

I am inspired by humanity and the myriad of journeys each of us navigates in our life experience. My goal is always to capture what I see intuitively. While my art is not always realistic, I push them to convey messages transmitted via the physical characteristics or random facial expressions of the people I create. I memorize a lot of expressions and attempt to get them on paper.

I love mark-making and collage and my work often reflects some aspect of both. Steering away from traditional collage work, I prefer to use elements I have created including doodles, found objects, paper, and fabrics I have colored using natural dyes and paints. And, because I love words, my work is often influenced by poetry I have read or written or song lyrics. Each of these components influences the direction of my art.

I am currently focused on printmaking, creating art through the eyes of an adoptee, and developing workshops that encourage others to dig deep and explore their own inner artists. I am also working to teach young kiddos, especially my granddaughters to work with art mediums from an early age. You will easily find them sitting next to me, brushes, and mediums in hand as we all learn something new from the experience of creating.

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