Bio

Rachel Moser is an interdisciplinary artist and educator based in central Kentucky. Her work spans two-dimensional and mixed media, sculpture, video, installation, and sound, integrating natural and manufactured materials to explore themes of climate change and human impact on the planet. Moser’s art is deeply influenced by her background in ballet and movement practices, which continue to inform her visual language.

She holds a BFA in Motion and Graphic Design from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and an MFA in Studio Art from the University of Kentucky. In 2019, Moser received a grant from the Great Meadows Foundation to travel to Svalbard for the Arctic Circle Residency. This transformative experience inspired her series Where It Used to Be Blue, which earned her the prestigious South Arts State Fellowship. Her current work, Residues of Concern, furthers her investigation into ecological fragility and human consumption.

Moser’s work has been exhibited regionally at the Morlan Gallery at Transylvania University, Georgetown College, Lexington Art League, and the Parachute Factory. Nationally, her pieces have been shown at the Waldemer A. Schmidt Art Gallery at Wartburg College in Iowa and the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art in California. Internationally, her art has been featured in Berlin, Germany, and Svalbard, Norway, as part of the Arctic Circle Residency.

Artist Statement

In my work, I explore ideas of nature and its transformation over time. Addressing matters of ecological concern, my work frequently stems from field exercises both close to home and in remote locations with acute geophysical identities, such as rivers, ice fields, oceans, and forests. An ongoing reflection upon the mythos and policies of exploration in a globalized age is central to my practice. Working across media and conceptual paradigms, my expressions offer a vision of our landscapes while inviting consideration of its delicate ecology and fraught geopolitical condition in a world where human civilization and the natural landscape are intrinsically linked. As such, I use a mix of reclaimed, recycled, and natural materials alongside mass-manufactured products to reflect and showcase the intrinsic conflict of human existence on our planet. My goal is to create experiences available to all audiences in an effort to share my witness of the impact climate change has on our planet through the use of light, media, and sound.

South Arts State Fellowship interview