We welcome Rae Hanley to Small Space Fest!

Rae Hanley, born 1990, in Santa Barbara, California, has spent most of her adolescence in Las Vegas, Nevada. She was home-schooled until the age of 12. She attended high school at Arbor View, and graduating 2009, where she assistant directed the Art Fest for three years. Immediately after she studied at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. SAIC was where she discovered conceptual art, and began to explore new medias. Rae works in sculpture, garment, performance, painting, installation, video, and new media. She’ exhibiting in Chicago and Las Vegas, while currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Artist Statement: Art is my most comfortable form of communication. As a visual artist I primarily create abstract biomorphic paintings, and sculpture. I also produce corresponding installations, performance, video, garments, and new media pieces. Compulsive observation, documentation, and experimenting are the driving forces in my practice. I use art to explore personal fears and to understand subconscious habits. But still, my art is not about comfort.

Experimentation plays seriously into my use of media. My physical works are comprised of industrial and alternative materials such as mylar, tyvek, foams, metals, and plastics. But they also contain organic material like reclaimed fibers, leathers, and found matter. I focus on proper craftsmanship, while avoiding kitsch.

I make art that deals with the relationships between organic and inorganic subjects. Particularly the interactions between humans and machines. For example, the correlation between mechanical defects and human diseases. I am influenced by emerging science, biology, and theoretical physics, as well as societies current dependence on technology, and the social changes it creates. My past few series focused on dehumanizing subcultures, like internet behavior, and Las Vegas nightlife. Most recently exploring how women are perceived in online society, and club culture.

See more of her work at Small Space Fest: June 20th, 2016.

Her Website HERE