In larger-than-life form, artist Rachel J. Siegel’s “Seams-Sew Ordinary” installation aims to piece together the buried narrative of her grandmother’s life. The exhibit, opening Friday, Oct. 7 in the University of Washington, Tacoma Gallery, features three eight-feet-high dress forms that stand in for the missing pieces of her grandmother’s secret past.
The gallery is located at 1742 Pacific Ave. in downtown Tacoma. The show, which is free and open to the public, runs through Oct. 29.
“At age 93, my grandmother passed away still holding a family secret-the birth of a baby boy-and within her a notion of shame that I will never completely fathom,” Siegel says. “Photographs, text, and collected objects pave a psychological as well as physical path between my grandmother’s childhood home and her adult life.”
Siegel, who lives, teaches, and makes art in Portland, Ore., investigates social and political concerns as well as feminist themes in her art. In her work, she often uses humor to investigate issues that are significant to her, including the body, family, health, and interpersonal relationships. She currently incorporates into her art digital prints, artist’s books, video, and installation work.
Siegel teaches photography and digital art at various institutions, including Pacific Northwest College of Art. She also taught in UW Tacoma’s Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Program last spring. She holds a master of fine art degree from the University at Buffalo, State University New York.
During the five years she lived and worked in Western New York she exhibited her work regionally at the Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester Contemporary, Hall Walls Contemporary Art Center, the Carnegie Art Center, and more.
Her work has been shown national and internationally, including in Japan, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Serbia, and Canada. She was born and raised in Los Angeles and received her bachelor of arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Gallery hours currently are Wednesdays, from 1-4 p.m., and Thursdays, from 1-5 p.m. For further information, call (253) 692-5642.
