About

Rachel Blythe Udell works with fibrous materials to create biomorphic sculptures, embroidered textile collages, and installations. She is the recipient of a 2023 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for sculpture. Her show, Lush Morphology, is currently on view at The Delaware Contemporary in Wilmington, DE. In 2023, her installation, Hypnagogic Habitat, was exhibited at the Philadelphia International Airport. In 2022, her work was juried into the showcase section of Art14C, an international art fair in Jersey City, NJ. Udell has had a solo show at Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ and exhibited in a three-person show at the Perkins Center for the Arts, in Collingswood, New Jersey. She has created installations for the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation at Lemon Hill Mansion, as well as The Atlantic Highlands Arts Council Gallery in Monmouth County, NJ. Her work was selected for inclusion in the New Jersey Arts Annual in 2018 and the Fiber Philadelphia International Biennial in 2012. Udell graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in Art History, and has studied art and art therapy at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She lives and works in Mantua, New Jersey.

Statement

I make sculptures and embroidery collages from heirloom clothing, yarn, reclaimed fabrics, and other materials. The language of textiles is also that of connection, threading together identity, history, biology, and personal experience. As human beings, we are part of an interacting, breathing membrane, transmitting and receiving the stuff of life between social and psychological systems, ecosystems, solar and cosmic systems. We flow, physically and emotionally, into our surroundings. The materials I use have their own histories, sometimes directly linked to mine, as in the case of familial clothing, sometimes not. Organic patterns in vintage laces and other textiles speak to one another, and seem to pulse with life. Always trying to minimize waste, I bundle together the scraps and ends from my crochet and embroidery pieces, to form new soft sculptural bodies. In this way, my work process literally begets new work, reproducing like a living organism.

Short Documentary

about the artist’s current work

CV

Solo Shows

Lush Morphology (currently on view)

The Delaware Contemporary, Wilmington, DE, 2024

Hypnagogic Habitat

Philadelphia International Airport, Terminal A West, Philadelphia, PA, 2023

Pocket Dimension

Inliquid Vestibule at Old City Publishing, Philadelphia, PA, 2020

The Shapes of My Dreams and of My Nightmares

Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ, 2014

Spring Forward: Contemporary Art in Historic Houses

Installation at Lemon Hill Mansion in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, PA, 2013

2-3 PERSON SHOWS

Ariadne Slept Here

The Plastic Club, Philadelphia, PA, 2021

Spaces Between

The Perkins Center For the Arts, Collingswood, NJ, 2015

Jouissance:: Play

Et al Productions, New York, NY, 2012

Select Group Shows

Navigating Elements

2018 Arts Annual Exhibition, New Jersey State Council on the Arts

Jurors: Ysable Pinyol, MANA Contemporary, Jodi Throckmorton, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Rowan University Art Gallery, Glassboro, NJ, 2018

Outside/Inside the Box

Fiber Philadelphia International Biennial

Jurors: Elisabeth R. Agro, Bruce D. Hoffman and Judith Weisman

The Ice Box, Crane Art Center, Philadelphia PA, 2012

ART FAIRS

Art14C Juried Showcase

Jurors: Katie Henry, Art in Offices, Susan Nelly, The Villa America FIne Art, Ulysses Williams, ArtCrawl Harlem

Jersey City Armory, Jersey City, NJ, 2022

Additional Shows

Strobe Signature Artists Exhibition

Arts & Innovation Center, Rowan College of South Jersey, 2023

Again and Again

Parktowne Place, Philadelphia, PA, 2023

The Art of Whimsy: More Than Meets The Eye

1040 Creative, Philadelphia, PA, 2022 (currently on view)

Clique21

Perkins Center For The Arts, Collingswood, NJ, 2021

Unprecedented Times

University City Science Center, Philadelphia, PA, 2020

Strobe Signature Artists

Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts, Millville, NJ, 2020

Fragile Beauty

Salem Art Bank, Salem, NJ, 2020

New Now III

The Inliquid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA 2019

Interwoven

BSB Gallery, Trenton, NJ 2019

Knot Up To You

High Five Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2018

Threads of My Identity

Atlantic Highlands Arts Council, Atlantic Highlands, NJ, 2018

The Earth Speaks

The Barron Art Center, Woodbridge, NJ, 2018

Opening Up

High Five Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2018

Mi Corazon

Eye’s Gallery, Philadelphia, PA , 2017

Growing Creativity

Jed Williams Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2016

Stand With Standing Rock

Eris Temple Arts, Philadelphia, PA, 2016

3rd Annual Day of the Dead Show

Eye’s Gallery, Philadelphia, PA , 2016

Small Works

Da Vinci Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA, 2015

Flora Fauna

Jed Williams Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2014

Bigger Bits and Pieces

Metropolis Collective, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2013

Bits and Pieces

Metropolis Collective, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2012

A Taste of Trash

Metropolis Collective, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2012

Stitch Witchery

Nichols Berg Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2012

More Stitch Witchery

The Painted Bride, Philadelphia PA, 2012

Gender Games

International House, Philadelphia, PA, 2012

The Ragdoll Project for Human Trafficking Awareness

Multiple locations, Philadelphia, PA, 2011

Synthetic Zero and {SØNiK} Fest

Bronx Art Space, New York, NY, 2011

Collaborate: Collaborator

Eris Temple Art Space, Philadelphia, PA, 2011

Women and Water

International House, Philadelphia, PA, 2011

3rd Street Gallery Invitational

3rd Street Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2011

Art for the Urban Collector

Highwire Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2010

Plexus

Rocket Cat Café, Philadelphia, PA, 2010

Devotion

Highwire Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2010

Women

International House, Philadelphia, PA, 2010

Various and Sundry

The Skybox at 2424 Studios, Philadelphia, PA, 2009

Girls Gotta Run: Bodies In Motion

Holy Family University, Philadelphia, PA, 2009

Grand Small Works

F.U.E.L. Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2008

auctions

Inliquid Benefit Auction, Philadelphia, PA and virtual, 2021

Dawn's Palette: Virtual Art Auction Benefitting Survivors at Dawn's Place, Philadelphia, PA and virtual, 2021

Dawn's Palette: Virtual Art Auction Benefitting Survivors at Dawn's Place, Philadelphia, PA and virtual, 2022

MUSIC

Songs for The Woods Are Real, directed by Alix Lambert, 2023

Soundtrack for The Lost Garden, directed by Jeremy Newman, 2022

Soundtrack for The Dreaming Biome, directed by Jeremy Newman, 2020

Collaborative Projects

Crocheted contribution to Yarn Bombing Los Angeles, Installation at The Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA, 2013

Embroideries featured in short film, Splendor by Jeremy Newman, 2013

Crocheted contribution to Yarnbomb Consortium, Manchester, United Kingdom, 2012

Fiber artwork and performance featured in “Girl Gangs,” by Lora Bloom and Bonnie MacAllister as part of Classwar Karaoke: 0017 survey / 29th February 2012