The Last Detail

Rachel Ross
3 - 31 October 2020
  • Hybrid Gallery Rachel Ross Two Silver Spoons
  • Hybrid Gallery Rachel Ross Two Small Spoons with Green Silk
  • Hybrid Gallery Rachel Ross Notebook with Hawk-moth and Key
  • Hybrid Gallery Rachel Ross Collected Spoons with Striped Ribbon and Butterfly
  • Hybrid Gallery Rachel Ross Fish Knife and Fork
  • Hybrid Gallery Rachel Ross Pin Box with Butterfly and Scissors
  • Hybrid Gallery Rachel Ross Calipers with Quail's Egg and Feather
  • Hybrid Gallery Rachel Ross Two Spoons with Green Silk
  • Hybrid Gallery Rachel Ross Butterfly with Two Coffee Spoons
  • Hybrid Gallery Rachel Ross Fork and Ladle on Black
  • Hybrid Gallery Rachel Ross Chalkhill Blue with Jewellery Box and Key
  • Hybrid Gallery Rachel Ross Letter with Locket and Key
  • Hybrid Gallery Rachel Ross Receipt with Quail's Egg and Envelope
  • Hybrid Gallery Rachel Ross Mother of Pearl Fork with Spoons and Quail's Egg
  • Hybrid Gallery Rachel Ross Butterfly with Key and Escutcheon
  • Hybrid Gallery Rachel Ross Caddy Spoon with Lake Tahoe Souvenir

"I paint humble personal possessions familiar to us all.

My subjects are given an emotional charge through painstaking study and a close attention to detail; an aged, yellowed letter written over a century ago bears careful copperplate and a smudged postmark, a silver spoon, dulled and dented through years of use has the initials of its once owner engraved on the handle. It is the faithful reproduction of small incidental details that suggest a story and provoke emotion.

For me, the painting process is rather like polishing tarnished silver. Initially the image is indistinct. I paint what I see; a jumble of lines, shapes and rough patches of colour. Through gradual refinement, painting layer upon layer, the image gradually appears, sharpens and comes together.

The image is given life through the final marks, the last detail. "                           Rachel Ross 2020