Biography

Rachael Padilla is a multimedia conceptual and self-portrait artist from Taos, New Mexico. Her father’s family had settled in the region centuries before, and generations of her ancestors from Spain and Mexico lived there before her.

As a native Taoseña, She was immersed in beautiful vistas, cultural traditions, and a plethora of art. From an early age, making art was non-negotiable: it was more akin to a compulsion. Her earliest work was in crayon on living room walls. Childhood works included sculptures in papier mache and others made from scraps of fabric sewn with needle and thread. She received her first figure drawing lesson at 11, and began painting in oils at 13. As a teen, she learned to sew clothes. She eventually took her passion for creating to college, and as an undergraduate enjoyed life drawing and was introduced to acrylics. She received her Masters Degree in Fine Art in 2011 from Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado. Studying the art of her Hispanic culture in New Mexico and creating a thesis that coupled that history with her own art and life experience.

She continued her love of learning by completing yoga teacher training at the University of New Mexico (UNM), in Taos, New Mexico in 2013.

In recent years, her work has centered around self-reflection and explores themes of identity, motherhood, and emotions. Often incorporating elements of nostalgia and childlike wonder. “Hop Along”, a self-portrait in acrylic featuring a jumping ball and tutu was included in Celebrating Georgia Artists of Hispanic/LatinX Origin, at MOCA GA in 2020. In 2024, “Apuleius”, a mixed media photo collage was included in Apollo's Decathlon Exhibition, Château de Montsoreau Museum of Contemporary Art, in Montsoreau, France.

In 2017, after a lifetime in the Southwest, she relocated to the American Southeast (Georgia).

Rachael currently lives in St Simons and continues to work in whatever medium best communicates her vision. Inspired by coastal Georgia’s distinctive atmosphere, shifting light, and quiet moments, she is drawn to perspectives that often go unnoticed. Her work invites viewers to slow down and reconsider the familiar, revealing beauty in overlooked details and transforming ordinary scenes into something unexpected and meaningful. She sees the challenge of being an artist in the digital age as an adventure, engaging with online audiences and fans through social media sites.

Of her own work she says, “I create to capture moments, moods, feelings. They're deeply personal, so it's appropriate that I often use my own image. I think most artists create self portraits, even if it isn’t blatant. My work is about the progression of time by capturing moments. Experiencing the full range of human emotions is universal. Being an individual, however, can often feel very isolating. Which is why I do self portraits. Through the shared experience of memory and sensation, I want my art to connect with the viewer; to evoke a sense of commonality in the shared totality of human experience.”