rayrayworks
Rachael Warner creates portraits in oil on wood of those she shares community with—friends, peers, muses, and occasionally herself. Her work is a celebration of queer experience, capturing her subjects as bold, joyful, and unapologetically themselves. Through dynamic compositions and a striking color palette, Warner explores themes of presentation, gender, sexuality, and interpersonal dynamics, challenging traditional ideas of whose likeness is worthy of preservation.
Warner’s work reflects the tension between the public and private, what is performed and what is innate. This duality is evident in her visual language, where subtle textures meet flat graphic shapes, and tight renderings contrast with loose, gestural marks.
Her portraits invite viewers to consider visibility and intimacy, offering a meditation on the beauty, resilience, and humanity of her subjects, and revealing a vibrant community to the world.