Rachel Elizabeth Brainerd, BS
Rachel Brainerd fabricates intricate works of metal with various hinged and swivelling mechanisms that offer a doorway into her academic research on refugee trauma. She exploits the natural curiosity of viewers to wear and touch these moving elements, allowing outsiders to step into an understanding of the suffering of others. While her audience has the luxury of removing these external forms, refugees have no choice in carrying the burdens forced upon them. In the work, Inescapable Past, she casts blue tarpaulin in resin, and embeds photographs from newsreels of refugees in flight to visually reference the temporary building materials and living conditions found in refugee camps. The burned resin images evoke a sense of loss and longing, the memories of countless lives threatened by the disintegration of their homes, and the fragility of human life. The metal forms, tarnished by patinas and age, become witness to this passage of time, and reside in a worn, familiar context that invites intimate connection and empathy instead of reverent distance.
