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Artist Spotlight: Rachel Workman

4/30/2024

by Rachel Bruce Johnson

I have known Rachel Workman for many years now. I knew her when she was walking out of a very abusive relationship. I have watched her crumble and I have read every late-night text, spilling over with grief, turmoil, and determination. I have also seen her claw her way to standing. She stared an impossibly hard situation in the face, and with vast courage and strength, chose to sojourn with God through creativity to find the path to restoration and healing. I am incredibly honored to know her, a Joan of Arc, crusading for her own restoration and for the restoration of her children. She is soldiering, though she shouldn't have to, as every Warrior Woman. She is one of the bravest women I know. This is not to say she has not felt defeated or bludgeoned or undone, but in her darkest moments, she turns her face toward hope and steps back into the crusade. And because she is an artist, I am fascinated at the ways in which art and beauty have played a part in her healing process, a fact I hope I do justice to feature here at Fire and Mud.
You can read more about her and her diverse education on her website: www.greaterthingstocome.com

Why don't you situate us in the place where these art pieces came to be?

As a survivor of domestic violence, I spent years walking on eggshells…striving, avoiding, quieting, accommodating, shrinking, and fearing. The cumulative tragic effect had me isolated and invisible.

Ironically, the eggshell fragility had taken on its own form in the shell of myself I had become - confidence eroded, voice silenced and posture bent over.

Through times of great crushing, I found myself surrendering to the creative; to the possibility for something different, something more, and something beautiful.

In my recovery and restoration, I have taken the very things that have caused pain and transformed them into emblems of purpose and beauty.

A reminder - an invitation perhaps - for all of us to live authentically and behold beauty.

Rachel L. Workman

Photos by Hannah Whaley

ASHES INTO ART: THE RADIANT COLLECTIVE

You create art from delicate, empty, painted eggshells. They are simultaneously beautiful and sorrowful. They speak of untethered purpose in the emptiness of the shells as well as a repurpose in their new watercolor hues. Tell me about the moment the eggshell became a canvas for you?

I started thinking more organically about art and wanted to break free from the traditional expression on canvas or paper. I was inspired by combining the feeling so many victim-survivors have when they leave an abusive relationship - that is ... I will never again walk on eggshells for anyone ever again. That resolve led me to consider the organic material of the eggshells.

I can see your intention in these pieces. I also see a clear message of something broken being treated with intentional care to create something new; a “beauty from ashes” moment, to reference Biblical imagery. What has informed your need to create these specific pieces?

I wanted to capture the embodiment of victim-survivor's stories. Often their stories reflect a season of great crushing underscored by the beauty and the grit of the journey to restoration and healing. To me, watercolors are a medium that speaks freedom. I wanted that element to come through as the colors flow into one another with such grace and depth.

Not only have you created pieces with tonal palettes, such as blues on one and pinks on others, but you have also incorporated flicks and edges of gold into some of your assembled pieces. Tell me about the significance of the gold?

I love the gold. The gold is precious and reminds us that there is so much value in what can be fragile, what can be broken and what can also be restored out of the breaking.

It reminds me of the Japanese art of Kintsugi, which practices repairing broken pottery with a special mixture tree sap and gold, silver, or platinum. The result is a bowl or vase with a gorgeous streak of gold. The repaired pot or vase connotes healing in the filled break. What was beautiful is not simply restored but redeemed as something even more valuable due to the way the vessel is made whole again. In this practice, the break can’t be ignored, the added material enhancing the vessels’ strength.

There is a nice My Modern Met article here:
https://mymodernmet.com/kintsugi-kintsukuroi/

Though I have only observed from a distance, I have noticed this strengthening process you have chosen to meet head on. I watch in awe as you courageously walk the journey, gaining resilience with every step. Not only are you more beautiful in your courage, but I have watched you selflessly build other women up who needed your strength while they fortified their own.

You have also created some black and white ink drawn versions, as well as and some mosaics with smaller shell fragments, correct? Tell me about those versions.

The black and white pieces are bold and stark. They are an expression of deep reconciling of contrast. What once was, what is right now, and the potential for what can be in the future.

eggshells with thin black ink drawings of simple flowers inside

eggshells with black ink drawings of flowers inside on a black mount board

eggshells with thin black ink drawings of flowers on the inside mounted to a black board and framed in square black shadow box

The mosaic is symbolic of the remnants collected, arranged, and in the stage of "becoming." Not everything has to be in a state of wholeness to be experiencing revitalization, healing, restoration. It's an "in progress" work where one can see that the fragments really can come together into something possibly more beautiful than its original whole. And it's a reminder, an invitation to accept that departure from one's expectations and strivings for intactness.... that sometimes it's in the surrender to the breaking that we have the FREEDOM to become...more. RESTORED.

How difficult is it to work with such delicate materials?

Working with fragile eggshells is challenging as it requires delicate techniques. Eggshells are very porous material so when laying down paint it requires restraint and strategic efforts to accomplish what might have easily been achieved with canvas or paper. Much like the healing journey it has required adapting, evolving, and growing in unexpected ways.

The preparation of the eggshells is actually quite intensive as it requires you to peel back the layers of membrane to get to a clean surface. Isn't that just like the path of restoration? If the layers were not removed, then paint would be applied on top of a surface that was never meant to be there, negatively impacting the outcome. We can't skip the labor intensive steps required to peel back the hurt, the raw, the ugly....so we can find beauty again.

Why do it? What do you think is in the process of artmaking that underscores the healing needed in your life and potentially in the lives of other women that are familiar with the road you have been forced to journey?

There is so much symbolism in this work. I have found that women purchase these pieces as an emblematic badge of what they have been through as well as a commitment to a hopeful future. Whether I am creating with words, watercolor or the black and white keys on the piano - I treasure the opportunity to connect with creativity that has become a tangible expression of what is reflected in so many of our collective stories.

Whether I am creating with words, watercolor or the black and white keys on the piano - I treasure the opportunity to connect with creativity that has become a tangible expression of what is reflected in so many of our collective stories.

Thank you, Rachel, for spending some time to speak a bit about your journey and the artwork you have created. You can find pieces for purchase at Radiant Collective:
https://www.greaterthingstocome.com/radiant-collective

And if you need family court coaching services, you will find more in-depth information on Rachel’s website, Greater Things To Come:
https://www.greaterthingstocome.com/life-coaching

A final word

Rachel has drawn strength from her faith in Jesus Christ as God Incarnate, the Savior of the World. When we find ourselves experiencing suffering, as everyone since the dawn of time has, we are often led to deep questions about God. In the Biblical narrative, Jesus was crushed for our iniquities and for the wrongs done to us. When you feel crushed by the weight of suffering, draw strength from the fact that Jesus was crushed for us in death, yet rose to life whole, pointing to our hope assured in Him, to likewise, rise.

The crusade is not what saves you, shapes you, and heals you. It’s Christ’s supernatural power. The crusade may be the means that got you there, but it’s not what saves you from the ashes. The power of Christ is what transforms our ashes to beauty.

In many ways, this portion of Rachel’s story encapsulates what the refining process that
Fire and Mud represents. We are all in process somewhere sojourning.

When you are overwhelmed by the struggle before you, remember that God may allow it, not simply for you, but for your children. What is best for them may require a little more toil, but God will never leave you to do it without strength. God will give you His strength.
So, Joan, take heart.
God sees you.
Jesus walks before you, blazing the way.
The Holy Spirit councils and renews you.
You are not alone.