Red Metal
In my work, concept and craft are coequals. Using physical and technically demanding processes including forging, forming, fabricating and machining, I address broader issues of “body” and “landscape” through the lens of social and environmental justice. The forms I create are physical representations of restrictive and oppressive social systems and the battle against them. In my work, the linear framing elements reference systemic expectations and oppressive uses of the human body and the landscape. The queer, powerful, and subversive parts of life, body, and politics are referenced by the masses that push out of that framework. I explore colonialism, pollination, habitat loss, sex (both human and floral) and restraints, oppression, repression, sensuality in my furniture, sculpture,architectural elements and home objects.
Rachel David is a blacksmith, sculptor, and designer. Her metalwork practice encompasses art, furniture, architectural elements, activism, and gardening. Through community activism and metalwork that references relationships between bodies and landscapes, David investigates issues related to colonization, social, and environmental justice. Rachel is the recipient of the James Renwick Alliance 2021 Chrysalis award for emerging artists. She taught at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (ME), Peters Valley School of Craft (NJ), Appalachian Center for Craft (TN), the New Agrarian School (MT), and Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (IL). Rachel organized and curated Nu Iron Age in (2017) and Meta-Formation (2019- 2020). She has exhibited work nationally and internationally in solo and group exhibitions. Her work has been included in several publications, including American Craft Magazine, Metalsmith magazine, and Ironwork Today 4. Her work is in the collections of the Smithsonian’s Renwick gallery, the City of New Orleans, the Simone Benetton Foundation, and in numerous private collections.