Rachel Barbera paints landscape-inspired abstract works and vibrant, geometric color studies that explore the relationship between spaciousness + structure, transparency + rich texture. 

She works primarily with oil paint layered over washes of acrylic and implements elements of mixed media including burned wood, pastel, pigment sticks, and plaster. The paintings range from raw, washy, and transparent to dense, textured colorscapes.

She builds and stretches most of her canvases by hand, adding to an organic, rawness that can be felt and seen across her work.

Barbera has been showing her work since 2016 after participating in extended studies at the Art Institute of Chicago. Many of her pieces are in private collections, and her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Chicago, Asheville, San Diego and Northern California.

She currently resides and paints in Bend, Oregon, drawing inspiration from the high desert and the amazing community of adventurers there, as well as from her years of growing up by the ocean in San Diego.


“While I paint, I am intentional to move my body with freedom, gratitude and honesty. I’m most interested in creating work that feels both vibrant and restful, inviting the viewer to lean in closer… to color, to light, to possibility, to the multifaceted beauty of life, all of it.”