Black. Art. Love | Rachel Crosby

Why is art so critical to our culture?
Art is so critical to our culture because it has the power to create and form opinions about ourselves, preserve historical moments, and share our story. I think it is so important who is telling our stories. I don’t think I can live in a world without art, a world without creative expression or narratives of what is going on in the present moment would be a bleak place.
 
Tell us about your first painting that you sold.
The first painting I sold was three years ago, it was a Black & White painting of a faceless woman with big curly hair with a pink and gold background. Thinking back on it now, it’s interesting to see that my “style” was developing even then because I’m noticing a pattern in my work where the focus is in black and white with a bright & colorful background.

What moment as an artist have you been most proud of?
One of the moments I have been most proud of as an artist is when I created my first mural entitled “We The People” this summer. It was great to step out my element and comfort zone to create a larger piece that held so many important topics to me. I’m very proud of the responses it received and the impact I made while creating it. I had many people of diverse backgrounds share their perspectives on the piece and even had a group of kids that viewed the work express admiration and inspiration for the piece. I want to continue to create those moments where the younger generation feels seen & heard.

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What has your experience been like as an artist during the pandemic?
My experience as an artist during the pandemic has been such a rollercoaster. I remember early 2020 before the pandemic hit, I was in a space of wanting to step in fully into my art. I was going to leave my 9-5 and hit the ground running with pop ups, festivals and hopefully a solo show. Then the pandemic hit. I had been accepted in the Five-Points Jazz Festival and that was 2 months out from the 2-week lockdown we were in and of course we all couldn’t expect from 2 weeks to 2 months to 2 years we are still in this pandemic. The first few months of the pandemic while I was working from home, I was creating pieces back-to-back and did some online shows. Then in 2021, I applied for a mural festival called “The Black Love Mural Fest” which allowed the opportunity to connect with other local artists of color and try out my first mural! Since then, I’ve been working on collaborations with other brands/artists and working on getting collections together.
 
What advice would you give someone who desires to work professionally to create their art?
The advice I would give to someone who desires to work professionally to create their art is:

• Don’t be afraid of people seeing you try, go ahead, and start!
• Have a level of self-awareness and self-discipline to know when to step up to the challenge.
• Educate yourself as much as possible in the field you want to create in, it allows for creativity to emerge and a chance to see what has been done before.
• Finding a mentor or someone 1:1 you can learn from will help progress your goals faster.
• Learn after failure.

 
Tell us about your experience collaborating with Dope Pieces.
My experience with collaborating with Kris Hale & Dope Pieces has been amazing, from the initial meet over zoom to the creations and distribution of the puzzles. Kris has been amazing spreading the word about my work and I’m so appreciative of the time she takes for her artists and the hard work she has put in for her company.