RACHEL HESSE 1965 - 1999
Mixed media on masonite, circa 1985
Rachel Hesse
Rachel Hesse

Painter and sound artist Rachel Hesse graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1983. She won several major scholarships, including the Dorothy Stevens Scholarship in 1982. Rachel Hesse was a prolific painter who worked primarily in acrylic, using collage as a ground for her powerful and evocative compositions, which were often very large . Rachel's work is influenced by Frances Bacon, Lucien Freud and Canadian collage artist, Louis De Niverville.
In her short life, she caught the interest of several prominent Toronto art dealers, including Avrom Isaacs of the Isaacs Gallery. Her music was often featured on Toronto radio station CKLN of Ryerson University and she gave several solo performances of her compositions at the Music Gallery. Solo shows of her paintings were held at The Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery and The Goethe Institute . Her work is held in private and public collections, including the City of Toronto, where two of her paintings were purchased for the office of former Mayor Mel Lastman. Rachel was represented by Olivia Art Gallery in 1982.