A few inches of broomstick, a fancy cake and what looks like a rolled up bin liner are among the official highlights of this years Summer Exhibition, unveiled yesterday at the Royal Academy in London.
The Times
Exhibitions
July 2006
Rachel held her first cake sculpture exhibition
‘People Only Die For Love In Movies’
Sotheby’s , Kiddell Gallery, New Bond Street, London
June 2007
Rachel's cake sculpture was selected for the Royal Academy Of Art's Summer Exhibition and nominated for The Insight Investment Newcomer Award.
‘I Just Have To Have You Here A Little Longer’
Royal Academy Of Arts 239th Summer Exhibition, Piccadilly, London
January 2008
Renowned art curator Janice Blackburn invited the artist to show two cake sculptures in her exhibition
‘Small Show Huge Talent’.
Pop up gallery - Hillgate Street, Notting Hill Gate, London
Sotheby’s – Kiddell Gallery
18th – 20th July 2006
‘People Only Die For Love In Movies’
An exhibition of Rachel's cake sculptures was held at Sotheby's Kiddell Gallery, 34-35 New Bond Street. The focal point of the show being a large cake triptych ‘The Two Faced French Fancies’ which Rachel produced as a large sculpture entry for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2006. Although the entry was rejected by the Academy it caught the eye of Sotheby’s CEO Robin Woodhead and art curator Janice Blackburn. Robin Woodhead invited her to display it in the Kiddell Gallery. Rachel produced six new pieces of work to display alongside her triptych including two gay wedding cakes and a cake shrine dedicated to her father Peter Mount.
Exhibition List
'Cake Shrine, Fly Away Peter'
Scale – Height 100cm / Base board 75cm x 60cm
'I Have Never Been'
Scale - Height 110cm / Base board 70cm
'Hello Sailor, Let's Tie the Knot'
Scale - Height 110cm / Base board 66cm
'Follow The Yellow Brick Road, Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead Crushed by A Big Gay Wedding Cake.'
Scale - Height 95cm / Base board 72cm
'Little Surfer Girls'
Scale - Height 48cm / Base board 76cm x 45cm
'Packing Sugar Shoes'
Scale - Height 115cm / Base board 85cm x 66cm
Materials - Rich fruit cake / Madagascan vanilla sponge cake. Sugar paste, petal paste, royal icing and food colouring. Wooden cake boards and tier supports.
Cake Triptych - 'The Two Faced French Fancies'
'Chapter One ~ Geneviève' / 'Chapter Two ~ Séverine' / 'Chapter Three ~ Carole'
Cakes are a fictional fairytale food. On the surface family events such as weddings are joyous but sometimes the fairytale mist conceals agony and heartache. The use of three cakes nods to the tradition of three tier wedding cakes. The cake trilogy represented love, life and death, the sugary front that people assume whilst hiding layers of dark sadness. Each cake told a brittle dark tale sliced from a womans private life revealing unapetising relationships and torment. The artist drew inspiration for the characters from 1960's Catherine Deneuve movies.
Scale – 210cm x 69cm / Height - The highest point of the work measured 150cm.
Materials - Rich fruit cake / Lemon liqueur cake / Orange liqueur cake. Sugar paste, almond paste, petal paste, royal icing and food colouring. Wooden cake boards and tier supports.
She is a gifted artist whose work is full of wickedly observational wit and irony and often a dark message lurking beneath it’s sweet exterior.
The Financial Times , Arts and Weekend Collecting
Royal Academy Of Arts 239th Summer Exhibition
11th June – 19th August 2007
‘I Just Have To Have You Here A Little Longer’
Rachel created this work as a large sculpture entry for the Royal Academy Of Arts Summer Exhibition 2007. With nearly 12,000 entries the 2007 competition was extremely strong and Rachel was delighted to hear that her artwork has been selected by the committee for exhibition in Gallery IX.
During 2006 - 2007 Rachel worked on a series of cake sculptures inspired by the instinct to acquire, one man's treasure being another man's trash. The largest piece, ‘I Just Have To Have You Here A Little Longer’, explored the layers of light and shade behind impulses that drive people to collect and how it can develop into obsession. The split-level effect explored visual and emotional layers of light and shade.
Scale - 125cm x 69cm / Height 155cm. The work was displayed under a Perspex unit.
Medium – Rich boozy fruit cake coated with layers of almond and sugar paste painted with food colourings. Wooden base boards and tier supports.
The Insight Investment Newcomer Award
The 2007 Summer Exhibition had several awards including The Insight Investment Newcomer Award and Rachel was one of twenty artists to be nominated.
Small Show Huge Talent
January 2008
Renowned art curator Janice Blackburn held ‘Small Show Huge Talent’ showcasing a diverse selection of artists. The exhibition was held in a pop up gallery along Hillgate Street, Notting Hill Gate, London. Rachel created two new cake sculptures for exhibition.
'Christopher Dancing - The World's In Slumber let's Misbehave'
Scale - 61cm sq Baseboard , Height – 105cm
Medium - Rich boozy fruit cake, almond paste, sugar paste, petal paste, food colouring, cake boards and tier supports.
'When Sugar Dissolves, Cry If You Can Weep If You Want To'
Scale – 46cm round Baseboard, Height - 92cm
Medium - Rich boozy fruit cake, almond paste, sugar paste, petal paste, food colouring, cake boards and tier supports.
A cross between craft and confectionery, her creations are elaborately designed sculptures modelled out of sugar, and although they look almost like ceramics, all are entirely edible.
CRAFTS
