Rachel Schmidt

Lives and works in Washington D.C., DC, USA

Artist statement

I use site-specific mixed media installations to create future myths that explore the potential realities of the Anthropocene. I am interested in futuristic visions of a world without a natural ecosystem, where a synthetic biology governs how people relate and coexist. What role will myth play in this future world and how will the action of myth building take form and evolve? How will a vanishing ecosystem manifest itself in the awareness and scarcity of material use? In a world where the rules of the game are changing so quickly, how can artists respond quickly and nimbly to a shifting planet? I consider myself a futurist and even when I allow my imagination to speculate wildly about the future of humanity, I always seem to return to the potential realities faced by non-human life. Making art on future landscapes, climate change, and artificial habitats can be a loaded political discourse, but I have never approached it as such. I see it as an inherently human issue that impacts all of us personally and I use my installations as a way to connect through these shared experiences.

Artwork