Rainbow sorrow – Brisbane artist Rachel Burke’s solo exhibition Thanks for Nothing explores grief through a colourful lens
How we process grief is a deeply personal experience. Some of us throw ourselves into distraction. Others keep their emotions bottled up. After experiencing recurrent pregnancy loss, Rachel Burke felt that artistic exploration made the most sense. The result is her new solo exhibition, Thanks for Nothing – a deeply personal body of work created using more than half a million hand-placed melty beads, exploring the seldom-discussed topics of fertility, miscarriage and how we process grief.
Internationally known as a queen of craft, multidisciplinary artist and designer Rachel Burke (or @imakestagram, as she’s known on Instagram) is renowned for her vibrant, cute and kitsch creations. In the past year alone, she adorned Cate Blanchett in tinsel for the AACTAs, created a colourful collection for Disney, published a bedazzling children’s book (which was adapted for stage at Brisbane Festival), collaborated with John Fluevog Shoes, worked as an experiential stylist for Airbnb and created a seemingly endless array of craft, art and wearable designs – just to name a few of her creative achievements. Amongst all of that joy and whimsy, Rachel has also been working on (and processing) something much more personal – a raw and honest exhibition that delves into her experiences with fertility issues, pregnancy loss, vulnerability and trauma.
Hand-placing more than half a million melty beads, Rachel has created a collection of works that capture her journey, injecting her signature dose of colour into a topic that is often cast in shadows. She reflects that the repetitive process of placing the beads was meditative and healing, allowing her to confront and process her grief, and transform it into something tangible. “I’m incredibly proud of this work,” she says. “Sitting there and hand placing over half a million melty beads across more than a year has been so therapeutic. It’s been a real exercise in healing and working through trauma, and I’m excited for it to now be out in the world.”
When deciding to explore her grief through artistic practice, it was important to Rachel that she embraced her signature vibrant kitsch aesthetic, while inviting a dialogue about something that is seldom discussed, but experienced by so many people. “Miscarriage and fertility issues are astonishingly still taboo topics, despite how many people experience it. I’m not the first to examine these themes but I wanted to contribute to breaking down the stigma while also making sense of my own journey.” She continues, “I have tried to make this work inviting and colourful to drive conversation about something that is not bright and bubbly”.
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The resulting exhibition, Thanks for Nothing, showcases dozens of works, all crafted using tiny melty beads. Running from February 1–14 at Red Hill’s Side Gallery, the show features multi-metre wall hangings, bags, quilts and more that express the various states of being and the commentary that underpinned Rachel’s significant year of loss. “These works,” Rachel reflects, “like us as people, showcase the layers of the human experience. It reminds us that while on the surface we can project joy, colour and fun, underneath there can be extremely painful things that we are working through”.
Sustainability was also at the forefront of Rachel’s work, using all de-stashed and thrifted melty bead materials for the collection. Thousands of people from all over the world sent Rachel beads that would have otherwise been discarded, which she hand-sorted and repurposed to create each piece. “It’s important to me to highlight how we can reuse, recycle, repurpose and redirect to make something special from what is so often discarded,” she says.
Rachel Burke’s Thanks for Nothing opens at Side Gallery on Saturday February 1 from 4:00 pm. The official opening celebration will take place from 6:00–8:00 pm, preceded by an artist in conversation with curator Laura Brinin from 5:30 pm. Rachel will also host two (now sold out) workshops across the exhibition period, plus there’s an up-late closing event on Thursday February 13 from 6:00–8:00 pm. For more details and to view the exhibition online, head to Side Gallery.
Photos: Lara Furst