Rachel Yurkovich

RACHEL YURKOVICH frames instances of uninhibited consumption and the damaging consequences they often bring. This involves the use of insects and animals as allegorical stand-ins for human situations of desire, indulgence and self-destruction. She experiments with the conditions of the life of these beings by setting up situations in which allegories occur. For this she uses the symbolic as material, shifting one's perception between content that is visually unnerving and intriguing. Rachel looks to the story of Adam and Eve with their forbidden consumption of the fruit that brought sin and death into the world.

The organisms portrayed in her work lack self-awareness of the fact that the consumed substance may be harmful. The desired substance ends up in a way consuming the living organism through gaining control over their actions or luring them into a trap. This is evident in the way the fruit flies in Eat, Drink, and be Merry follow their peers' same mistakes and fall into the wine to drown. Through the work people will be exposed to another way of seeing themselves and their actions.

She advocates for thought to happen behind decisions that could have negative consequences on one-self or others. To not spend one's life seeking out ways to fulfill desires of the flesh, but to take advantage of the cognitive ability we have as humans and be self-aware of what we choose to spend our time indulging in, and how deep we let ourselves go.