Rachel Pruzan

I’m a contemporary abstract artist. My paintings and wall sculptures explore the meanings we form through lived experiences and the ways those meanings evolve over time. I’m especially drawn to the traces transformation leaves behind.

I view the natural world as an archetype of the human experience. Nature persists, reveals, conceals, destroys, and renews without judgment. My work exists at the intersection of the objective rhythms of nature and the innately human need to make sense of life.

This relationship between transformation and perception extends into my materials. I use fire to alter paint, ink, wood, and Yupo—a synthetic substrate—leaving permanent marks, texture, and evidence of passage.

While my process is guided by intention, fire behaves according to its own nature, introducing an unpredictability I can never fully anticipate or repeat. I welcome this uncertainty, because it requires me to work in conversation with the material.

I’m drawn to the paradox of using Yupo to create organic sculptural forms that evoke flora, detritus, and weathering from natural elements. Fire scorches and sculpts the Yupo until it occupies an ambiguous space between the manufactured and the organic, challenging viewers’ perception of materiality.

Rather than offering fixed narratives, my artwork invites contemplation, creating space where viewers might encounter questions rather than conclusions. My work reflects a belief that beauty is found not in perfection or resolution but in the messiness of the human experience.