Rachel Gloria Adams

Rachel Gloria Adams (born 1987) is a multidisciplinary artist living in Portland. Adams has developed a vibrant, graphic pattern-based visual language filled with references to the natural world that possess an heirloom quality. Her work takes form by way of quilting, painting, design, and large-scale murals.

She moved to Maine in 2005 to pursue her BFA at the Maine College of Art and Design. She has exhibited artwork at Space Gallery, Alice Gauvin Gallery, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, and Dowling Walsh. She has attended residencies at Speedwell and Pace House and is an Indigo Arts Alliance David C. Driskell Fellow. In addition to her studio practice, Adams has been commissioned to create murals for institutions including the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine, the Farnsworth Art Museum, and the University of Maine on the Orono campus.

Artist Statement

I am interested in distilling personal memories and experiences into abstractions. I am constantly bouncing back and forth between sewing shapes and painting them. I find that I sew what I can’t paint and paint what I can’t sew. These shapes, icons, and portraits are patched and pieced together as a way of documentation and storytelling.