• “Inverse Collage Study #3”

  Digitally manipulated collage

• “Inverse Collage Study #2”

  Digitally manipulated collage

• “Inverse Collage Study #1”

  Digitally manipulated collage

• “"M"”

  Collage on paper

• “"O"”

  Collage on paper

• “"A"”

  Collage on paper

artist bio

Rachel Hausmann Schall is an artist, writer and educator living near Milwaukee, WI. She received her BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) in 2015 and became co-founder and co-director of the artist collective After School Special (2015-2019). In addition to exhibiting work regularly at various gallery spaces in Milwaukee, WI, Rachel has exhibited nationally at many spaces including Lease Agreement (Lubbock, TX) for the 2019 Terrain Biennial, Project 1612 (Peoria, IL), and Little Berlin (Philadelphia, PA). She was recognized as an emerging artist finalist for the Mary L. Nohl Fellowship in 2016 and received the Nohl Suitcase Export Grant in 2018. In 2019, she completed an artist residency at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT. Hausmann Schall is one of the co-organizers of the emerging artist grant and exhibition program The Grilled Cheese Grant and she works as a visual arts educator at Pius XI High School. In addition to her practice as an artist and organizer, Rachel Hausmann Schall is a contributing writer for the Chicago-based arts publication Sixty Inches From Center and the Wisconsin-based publication Artdose Magazine.

artist statement

I utilize language as subject matter to create text-based visual works that manifest mostly as paintings, sculpture, and installation. Phrases act as self-reflective meditations; words point out the relatable experiences that make us all human. Currently, I am working with collage to explore my immediate reactions to composition, color, and shape by arranging readily available material on a page. My collage series uses color, pattern, shapes, and textures to create abstract compositions. Some of the collages are cut up and layered on top of one another to form letters. Others are scanned and digitally manipulated to be reproduced as inkjet prints. I see the collages as studies and as ingredients for future, larger scale projects that could transform into sculpture or installation. As an artist and writer, language is full of potential and it is pivotal to my practice to experiment with materials in order to explore all possibilities of text within my work.

proficiencies