About

ARTIST STATEMENT:

I find beauty hiding in plain sight: the asymmetry of a fallen branch, the crack in a vase, the weathered skin on a time-worn face.

Nearly thirty years of Sogetsu ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) changed how and where I look. Away from the centered full bloom, toward the bud about to open, the leaf about to fall. And the space between branches — it isn’t empty; it’s alive. I paint the same way: in layers, with room to breathe. Light and dark, connection and disconnection, in constant tension. Things move in and out of focus, urging the viewer to linger.

Women’s stories mesmerize me, especially those that go unheard. Decades as a psychologist trained me to listen for what people can’t say outright. Now the canvas is where those stories get told.

Restless, joyful curiosity drives the work. I chase what enthralls and won't let go—never the traditionally pretty, always the viscerally true. The lived-in line, the one that wavers when you get close. Emotional truth over polish.

BIO:

Rachel Davis spent thirty years as a psychologist before turning to art full time — working with creatives to help them get unstuck and mentoring graduate students in how to deeply listen. The red thread throughout: a deep interest in what's beneath the surface. In story.

A native New Yorker now rooted in the Bay Area, she works from two studios — ICB ART on the historic Sausalito waterfront and a backyard garden studio at home. She makes work that moves between expressive figuration and botanical abstraction, both shaped by nearly thirty years studying Sogetsu ikebana with master teacher Yoshi Hollis.

Davis’s work has been juried into exhibitions nationally and internationally, including twice at the de Young Open and twice at the Salon at the Triton Museum. She is collected across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia.

Her psychology background informs her teaching as much as her art. She spent years helping her clients sideline their inner critics and get back to creating. She’s since helped over a thousand artists worldwide do the same through live workshops and online courses.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS, AWARDS & PUBLICATIONS

Museum Exhibitions

• di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, True North (2024)

• de Young Open, de Young Museum, San Francisco (2023, 2020)

• Triton Museum Salon, Santa Clara (2021, 2020) - Honorable Mention

Juried Exhibitions & Awards

• Sausalito Center for the Arts Open, juried by de Young curator Hilary McGowan (2025) -

Audience Favorite

• Women Artists Making Their Mark, juried by Seager Gray Gallery,

international (2023, 2022, 2021, 2020)

• Art2Life International Exhibition, juried by Jack Fischer Gallery (2022); Julie Nester Gallery (2020)

• Artrepreneur Grand Prize Winner (2020)

• American Contemporary Art Finalist (2021)

Publications

• Arts to Hearts Magazine, Sanctuary Edition, guest curated by Dina Brodsky (2023)

• Artists of the Bay Area & Fun Size, Jen Tough Gallery (2022)

Rachel’s work is held in private collections across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia.