Rachel’s work is on display at Central Bank. You can visit the show in person through the end of the year and see it online at the button below.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Growing up in a small community surrounded by farmland in eastern Iowa inspired a curiosity and respect for the land and people who work it. The images in Land and Patchwork share an exploration of color and form in response to the agricultural landscape of the American Midwest.
The project was inspired by Mustard Seed Farm (Ames, IA), a property dedicated to sustainable and regenerative land management practice. While volunteering at Mustard Seed, I started thinking about the importance of daily interactions with landscape and the fragmented quality of the way I often relate to nature. I visualized this idea of fragmentation through digital collage, using quilt patterns as both an interruption and loving division of the landscape of the farm. There are formal similarities between the division of fields and the patchwork of a quilt. There are also connections to the cultural identity and heritage represented by barn quilts scattered across the state. The collaged photographs reflect the time farmers dedicate to their land, my own experiences with my natural surroundings, and the ways in which qualities of home and land overlap.
BIO
Rachel Deutmeyer is an artist and educator living in Mid-Missouri. Her photography-based art explores inconsistencies of memory and connections to places beyond tangible perception. Deutmeyer graduated with a B.A. in Graphic Design from Ashford University and an M.F.A. in Integrated Visual Arts from Iowa State University. Her artwork has been regionally and nationally exhibited. Deutmeyer teaches photography, theory and history as Assistant Professor of Photography at William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri.
