Rachel Dorsey

Part Time Lecturer

redorsey@uw.edu
(website) (www.redorsey.com)

Intro

Rachel Dorsey (b. 1992, Yonkers, New York) is a multidisciplinary artist and art educator who lives and works in Seattle, WA. Their studio work explores chronic illness, aging, and intergenerational trauma through large-scale figurative drawings, paintings, and monotypes. Blending semi-autobiographical genre scenes with repurposed materials like table linens and found fabrics, their practice reflects on the quirks and fragilities of the body, as well as familial and societal patterns of connection and care. Their work is heavily informed by disability justice and the growing neurodiversity movement. Through the construction of highly visible and multifunctional support structures, they reflect on the limitations of the gallery environment and imagine new ways for paintings to inhabit such spaces and better serve the viewer. As an educator, they work with students towards an equitable, trauma-informed classroom, taking on the role of facilitator rather than expert. They see the studio classroom as a place to explore, experiment, build community, and connect personal and collective histories through creative practice.

Recent Courses Taught

Figure Drawing
Introduction to Drawing
Introduction to Painting