October 2020
INVITATIONAL EXHIBITION
Rachel Yurkovich
ARTIST STATEMENT
In our modern world, there is a struggle to monitor appetites and avoid overindulgence. I am in constant observation of thoughtless choices, noticing that we often do not realize the weight of the impact we have on ourselves and our environment. In response to this, I frame instances of uninhibited consumption and the damaging consequences they often bring. For my current series Foreign Bodies, I am focusing on capturing moving images of instances where human-made and non-human nature interrupt each other, going where they're "not supposed to". These are shots of situations normally overlooked, such as plastic bags caught in trees, or roadkill on the pavement.
INVITATIONAL EXHIBITION
Rachel Yurkovich
ARTIST STATEMENT
In our modern world, there is a struggle to monitor appetites and avoid overindulgence. I am in constant observation of thoughtless choices, noticing that we often do not realize the weight of the impact we have on ourselves and our environment. In response to this, I frame instances of uninhibited consumption and the damaging consequences they often bring. For my current series Foreign Bodies, I am focusing on capturing moving images of instances where human-made and non-human nature interrupt each other, going where they're "not supposed to". These are shots of situations normally overlooked, such as plastic bags caught in trees, or roadkill on the pavement.
Rachel Yurkovich was born in South Carolina, but lived most of her developing years in Skopje, North Macedonia and Prague, Czechia.
She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture and Painting from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2014. With an interest in living things and their movement as a medium, her work often ends up as video. Rachel was granted the 2014 First Agnes Gund Traveling Award, which allowed her to travel to Chernobyl, Ukraine for the filming of Black Grass in 2016. Following this opportunity Rachel's work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the ROY G BIV Gallery (Columbus, OH), The Sculpture Center (Cleveland, OH), and Bruce Gallery (Edinboro, PA). Her videos have also been featured in film festivals such as the Barcelona Planet Film Festival (Spain), The Berlin Flash Film Festival (Germany) and the Sandalia Sustainability Film Festival (Sassari, Italy).
Rachel is currently living in Cleveland, Ohio, where she works at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History as an Interpretive Media Coordinator.
She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture and Painting from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2014. With an interest in living things and their movement as a medium, her work often ends up as video. Rachel was granted the 2014 First Agnes Gund Traveling Award, which allowed her to travel to Chernobyl, Ukraine for the filming of Black Grass in 2016. Following this opportunity Rachel's work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the ROY G BIV Gallery (Columbus, OH), The Sculpture Center (Cleveland, OH), and Bruce Gallery (Edinboro, PA). Her videos have also been featured in film festivals such as the Barcelona Planet Film Festival (Spain), The Berlin Flash Film Festival (Germany) and the Sandalia Sustainability Film Festival (Sassari, Italy).
Rachel is currently living in Cleveland, Ohio, where she works at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History as an Interpretive Media Coordinator.
For inquiries contact the artists directly:
- Artist Website: www.rachelyurkovich.com
- Instagram: @rachelyurkovich https://www.instagram.com/rachelyurkovich/
- Facebook: @rachelyurkovich.art https://www.facebook.com/rachelyurkovich.art/