We recently connected with Rachel Rader and have shared our conversation below.

Rachel , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I’m not sure there’s ever a straightforward route for artists, but my path has been a wildly unexpected journey. After going to art school, I lived a life determined to say “yes” to whatever job opportunity or experience that might lead me further down a path towards being an artist. In my 20’s, I moved from Virginia to the Pacific North West where I had the opportunity to work in production jobs, assist amazing artists, teach and get involved in the amazing Craft community in Seattle and Portland. I learned so much from the generous community of artists that embraced me as I navigated finding my voice in my chosen Craft materials: glass and metalsmithing. Over time I made work, applied for exhibitions and craft shows and dove right into the business side of Art. I wouldn’t change anything about the way those early years informed me as an artist and a young person finding my way. After a while, I started feeling like I had room to start saying “no” in order to carve out an intentional artist practice and create the life that I realized I wanted to live every day. It took a lot of time and patience to build my career and to find the confidence that I have today in myself and in the objects that I create. There’s really nothing that can speed that process up. I love that Ira Glass quote about creating a lot of bad art at the beginning until you finally can decipher what good art is. It’s a process! My 20’s were also all about gaining skills, learning from other artists, and working for very little or trading my time to get my foot in the door. There was a window of time in my life that I felt comfortable with sharing an apartment with multiple roommates and making that hustle work. As I got older I started realizing that I needed as much of my own time that I can possibly manage to dedicate to my artist practice. These days I feel so thankful that I’m able to dedicate my time to a full time art practice. It feels like such a gift.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Rachel Rader (she/her) and I create artwork that is driven by my passion for material exploration and a deep fascination with the enigmatic. In my latest project Ancient Truth Investigators, I craft jewelry and sculptural objects that play pivotal roles in the ongoing narratives embodied by the alter egos I assume during performances. I’m based in Richmond, Virginia but I’ve lived all over the country. For the past 2 decades, I’ve sought out spaces that support Contemporary Craft living in Seattle, Portland, and then Brooklyn. My recent move back home to Virginia was in part due to my excitement over fostering my own community, but also to be more in touch with the life balance that I found myself craving while living in those bigger cities. I recently adopted a dog with my partner Jay, and we spend most of our days enjoying the little things while I maintain my artistic practice. I have a studio in a space that I share with 8 other artists of a variety of mediums, where I’ve got my tools and equipment set up for glass fusing, metalsmithing, and dabbling in the variety of techniques that I love exploring.
I create objects that look like they could be found on an archaeological dig on some distant planet. And then I create videos where I discover these specimens while in-character as my alter egos. I also make jewelry and other forms inspired by the world I’m building. My work is coming from my fascination in sci-fi and fantasy, and my daily effort to play and not take life too seriously.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Support artists in whatever way you can! Buying their art is great, but even better is advocating for more art and art spaces wherever you live. So often we see a trend of a city becoming popular because the artists and musicians who lived there first made other folks feel like it was an exciting place to live because of all the art and culture. But more and more I’m seeing development in our country making it unaffordable for those same artists to be able to live there. Supporting artists beyond just a one-time commission for a mural. Artists thrive when there’s affordable housing, studio spaces and support from the local community to share their work.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal has always been to inspire laughter and wonder. I’m simultaneously engaged in my own route to escapism as much as inviting everyone to join me. Get in friends, we’re heading to SPACE!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ancienttruthinvestigators.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ancient_truth_investigators/

Image Credits

Various photogrpahers, so let me know which ones you decide to go with and I’ll provide details.