Rachell Sumpter

"Cornucopia"

"Aa"

"Finery"

"Jokulhlaup"

untitled

Rachell Sumpter's work lies firmly in that visionary/mystical/spiritual realm that all to often is best by shallow new age ineptness. Where others fail, she pulls off something quite marvelous. Her style of soft ethereal pastel backgrounds painted over with hard edged stylized figures and plants evokes a folk tradition without actually resorting to  imitation of one, not an easy trick to pull off. Many of her figures are clothed in what appear to be the traditional brightly patterned textiles of Lapland, but here I'm only guessing. Even if that is the case, her interests are hardly regional. The title "Aa" as many scrabble players know, refers to a specific type of volcanic formation in the Hawaiian Islands, and an earlier title for the piece "Cornucopia" was apparently "Adventures in the Pacific Northwest". Her work appeals to the spiritual wisdom of oral traditions and simpler more "primitive" lifeways. By not mimicking or overtly expressing any one of them she is getting at something universally human. Whether that something is elegiac or hopeful is hard to say. It is just the sort of thing that dewy eyed romantics and new age aficionados attempt but so rarely accomplish. Truths that might indeed be profound are often expressed with mere triteness. The only way to avoid this is to find new ways to speak of old things. Ms. Sumpter is doing just that.
you can see more at her Website: www.rachellsumpter.com
and at Hosfelt Gallery in New York.