Rachel Rothberg

Above and Left: Rest, 36″ x 48″, Oil on canvas, 2020

Below: Systems Project, Audio and pen sketches, 2021

     This Dark-eyed Junco’s life was cut short when it collided with a library window on Western Washington University’s campus.  I find it impossible to pass by victims like this Junco without giving them the reverent burial humans give to their own kind.  My larger-than-death depictions provoke empathy towards these deceased avian subjects by examining both the tension and tenderness that exists within mortality.  I combine a background of detailed biological illustration with painterly techniques to communicate fragile ecological balances and examine the interconnected nature of life and death in the natural world.

Instagram: @rachel.rothberg

Website: http://www.rachelrothberg.com/