hello! i’m rachel jerusha kinbar (all pronouns), an artist working primarily with clay and fiber/textiles to create sculptures, wall hangings, installations, and sometimes functional pieces. originally from the hudson valley in new york, i began my clay studies in tallinn, estonia, and now reside in winter park, florida.
my degrees are in jewish studies and history. while some would call me a self-taught artist because i don’t have an art degree, i have studied with and learned from many clay artists, including elize hiiop, vince sansone, and jeff rogers. my projects and series are similar to research projects – i start with a question and see what unfolds.
my work is an attempt to make sense of the world and my (in particular) and our (in general) place in it. i am interested in texture and in projects that are slow, painstaking, repetitive. i have a deep interest in process. for me, the making of art is the work and the resulting pieces are artifacts. lineage and value are throughlines in my work. where did we come from and where are we going? how can we be good ancestors? what do we value, individually and collectively? how do we assign “value” to materials, things, each other, and our planet?