New York artist Rachel Beach combines elements of painting and sculpture in her crafted wood veneer and oil painted objects. Her forms waver between two and three dimensions, creating spatial and perceptual tension. The painted areas are an illusion of volume rendered on the flat surface of the object. Beach uses the process of marquetry, the craft of covering a structure with pieces of veneer to form patterns or designs, often used in furniture and instrument making.

These painting/sculpture hybrids reference the language of ornamental detailing, modern abstraction, and contemporary design, both in technique and appearance. In her artist statement, Beach states, “the painted image depicts the sculptural object and vice versa; they are images of themselves. By merging three-dimensional form with illusory space, I destabilize visual perception, questioning how we see and what we believe.”

Beach studied at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and received her Masters from Yale University. She has exhibited her work throughout the United States and Canada, including Like the Spice Gallery and Bespoke Gallery in New York City and Wight Gallery in Los Angeles.