rachel david

Rachel David, raised in Mary­land resi­dent of Waynesville NC, is a black­smith, sculp­tor, designer and maker. Her metal­work prac­tice is holis­tic; encom­pass­ing art, furni­ture, archi­tec­tural elements, activism, collab­o­ra­tions and garden­ing. The work focuses on social and envi­ron­men­tal justice, commu­nity, and commu­ni­ca­tion; analyz­ing the many layers of colo­niza­tion, restraints and expec­ta­tions across bodies and land­scapes. There is little more visceral and compelling than moving steel. This work is made using tradi­tional and indus­trial forging oper­a­tions to massage shapes and forms refer­enc­ing the body and land­scape from steel into home furnish­ings. It carries concept and craft as coequals. It focuses on social and envi­ron­men­tal justice, commu­nity, and commu­ni­ca­tion. In its produc­tion I consider the many layers of colo­niza­tion, restraints and expec­ta­tions across bodies and land­scapes. The work is inspired by my life and body, the land­scapes I’ve passed through and the processes of metal­work­ing I special­ize in. The work of furni­ture is by nature inter­ac­tive, consid­er­ate, comfort­ing and durable. It is an adorn­ment, it is orna­ment, and it is a rela­tion­ship. Each creative oppor­tu­nity is another chance to be chal­lenged as a maker and citizen: a moment to take risks to express feel­ings and expand under­stand­ing of both mate­ri­als and concepts. 

Rachel has been a visit­ing artist at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (LA), The Crucible (CA), and Commu­nity-First Forge (TX). She taught at Haystack Moun­tain School of Crafts (ME), Peters Valley School of Craft (NJ), Appalachian Center for Craft (TN), the New Agrar­ian School (MT), and South­ern Illi­nois Univer­sity, Carbon­dale (IL). Rachel orga­nized and curated the exhi­bi­tions Nu Iron Age in 2017 and Meta Forma­tion: Exper­i­ments and Rituals in 2019. She has exhib­ited work nation­ally and inter­na­tion­ally in solo and group exhi­bi­tions and received Best in Show and Artist Gold Choice award at the Smith­son­ian Craft Show in 2019, only the second time in their history. Her work has been published in books and maga­zines includ­ing Iron­work Today 4 and is included in the collec­tions of the City of New Orleans, the Simone Benet­ton Foun­da­tion, and numer­ous private individuals.