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Q: You started the Bolivianos series in 2017. It has been 8 years since you...
Barbara’s Studio A: My first series, Domestic Threats, lasted fifteen years, and my second, Black Paintings, lasted ten. Stability and related qualities are likely natural parts of my personality,...
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Q: Would you please share your current bio?
In the studio A: Here it is. Barbara Rachko, born in 1953 in Paterson, New Jersey, is a contemporary painter based in New York City, renowned for her large pastel-on-sandpaper paintings inspired by...
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Q: Did you formally study art? (Question from “Cultured Focus Magazine”)
International Center of Photography website A: My bachelor’s degree in Psychology is from the University of Vermont. I did not formally study art, unless you want to count the several years-worth of...
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Q: Would you speak about someone who made a difference in your professional...
Buddhist monk reciting prayers over my aunt’s ashes, Leh, Ledakh, India A: The first person who comes to mind is my favorite aunt, Teddie. In 1997 she was headed to northern California to attend a...
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Q: What was the first New York gallery that represented your work and how did...
Exhibition Review A: My first (and still the best) New York gallery was Brewster Gallery on West 57th Street in what, in 1996, was the most important gallery district in Manhattan. By joining...
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Q: One can’t help but make connections between the devastating effects of...
“No Cure for Insomnia,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 58″ x 38″ A: Well, not exactly, since I began this work in 1991. All of the paintings in this series are set in places where I reside or used to...
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Q: I especially enjoy your “Black Paintings” series. You mention being...
“Between,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 20″ x 26″ A: In 2007 I finished the Domestic Threats series and was blocked, certain that a strong body of work was behind me. But what would come next? The idea...
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Q: Can you tell us about the different series of work you have created and...
Barbara’s studio with work in progress A: The Black Paintings series of pastel-on-sandpaper paintings grew directly from an earlier series, Domestic Threats. While both use cultural objects as...
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Q: During one of the most gripping times of your life, you were personally...
‘Mi Teleferico’ line, La Paz, Bolivia A: In the summer of 2002 I was ready to – I HAD to – get back to work in my studio. I knew exactly what I must do. More than ever before, learning and painting...
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Q: As you reflect on your overall art career beginning with your art...
“His Mortal Enemy Was Poised Ready to Strike,” soft pastel on sandpaper A: In 1989 I left a career in the Navy to pursue life as a full-time professional artist. In July 1996 Bryan and I were...
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Q: What was the first folk art figure you brought back from Mexico?
Mask from Oaxaca A: In Oaxaca I bought a large carved wooden dragon mask with a Conquistador’s face carved and painted on its back. My intent was to depict the dragon in a subsequent “Domestic...
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Q: Why did you first decide to depict Mexican folk art in your work?
“Myth Meets Dream,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 47″ x 38″ A: As a Christmas present in 1991 my future sister-in-law sent me two brightly painted wooden animal figures from Oaxaca, Mexico. One was a blue...
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Q: (Part II) Would you share your story of how creating art enabled you to...
“The Champ,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 35” x 28.5” framed. The first of my “Bolivianos”. A: Continued from last Saturday’s post… Because I use reference photos for my pastel paintings, the first...
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Q: Would you comment on the origin of the title for your photographic series,...
Untitled c-print, 24″ x 24″ edition of 5 A: My title is borrowed directly from a 2001 catalogue essay by the late art critic, Gerritt Henry. The essay was about my first pastel painting series...
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Q: How has your use of photography changed over the years?
Untitled, 24″ x 24″ c-print A: When my husband, Bryan, was alive I barely picked up a camera, except to photograph sights encountered during our travels. Throughout the 1990s and ending in 2007, I...
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Q: One can’t help but make connections between the devastating effects of...
“No Cure for Insomnia,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 58″ x 38″ A: Well, not exactly, since I began this work in 1991. All of the paintings in this series are set in places where I reside or used to...
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Q: What has been your scariest experience as an artist?
“Between,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 20″ x 26″ A: I’d say it was the approximately six months in 2007 when I finished the “Domestic Threats” series and was blocked, certain that a strong body of work...
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Q: What is the one painting that you never want to sell?
“No Cure for Insomnia,” pastel on sandpaper, 58″ x 38″ A: There are two: “Myth Meets Dream” and “No Cure for Insomnia.” Both are part of my “Domestic Threats” series and were breakthroughs at the...
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Q: Would you say there is a unifying quality to all of the work you have...
Barbara’s portfolio book A: Yes, I can think of several. Whether making pastel paintings or printing photographs in the darkroom, I have always been concerned with quality and craftsmanship and never...
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Q: How do you know when a series has ended?
“A Promise, Meant to be Broken,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 58″ x 38″ A: I suppose it’s when there is nothing left to say within a particular body of work. The urgency to add something I haven’t...
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