Artist Statement:
My process begins with a moment of reflection and introspection. I then approach each piece intuitively, starting with an unbroken line of twists and turns until the end point meets the beginning. For me, this symbolizes the journey of life. From that line, the life in the piece takes shape as I soften the interior, the way healing softens us, by rounding the sharp edges. This creates what I refer to as cells. Biologically, cells are vital to every living organism. They recreate, replace, and repair themselves to sustain life–holding memory, emotion, trauma, and healing. The cells in my work carry that same energy. Like the body, each piece holds more than we may initially see. To view my work is to look at a living piece and see that everything we have ever felt is still alive somewhere inside us: joy, sorrow, love, and despair. Through my work, we see that healing is not linear, but growth and repair are always possible. It is also an invitation to remember what it felt like to see the world with the wonder and curiosity of a child.
As my work has evolved over time, one thing has remained true: there is always an underlying narrative of vitality, of the things that keep us alive and the experiences that grow us. For me, that vitality lives at the intersection of childhood and adulthood, where memory, nostalgia, love, and healing shape everything we are and will become. While the themes in my work hold depth, the lively mix of bold and bright colors gives a sense of light rather than heaviness. Through my work, I invite curiosity and reflection. And ultimately, I want to evoke a joyful resonance in viewers that allows them to reconnect with, and heal, their inner child.
Chantrice Rachelle is an abstract artist from Atlanta whose work explores the intersection of childhood and adulthood through memory, nostalgia, love, and healing. Working with bold, vibrant colors, and intuitive abstract forms referred to as cells, she creates emotionally guided pieces shaped by personal symbolism and reflection. Her practice visually reflects the nonlinear nature of life and the experiences that shape us, while creating space for self-reflection and inner-child reconnection.
Chantrice’s earliest memory of art is scribbling on the walls of her childhood home with markers–a moment of pure instinctive expression that foreshadowed the artist she would become. From a young age, she recognized the power of her artistic gift. Selling her first piece of art at the age of eight, and having her artwork showcased at Atlanta’s Fort McPherson Army Base during elementary school, instilled in her a sense of artistic purpose. Even as she later pursued a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree in information technology, that creative impulse never left. Art remained her refuge, her coping mechanism, and the place she returned to whenever life couldn’t be put into words.
In 2020, a spiritual turning point shifted her trajectory and led her to embrace art not just as a pastime, but as a calling. Her practice is guided by reflection, introspection, and intuition. Whether exploring experiences with love, or reconnecting with her inner child through color and memory, her art reflects the nonlinear nature of healing, and the grace required to move through it.
Chantrice’s pieces often carry a sense of introspection and emotional mapping. She views her work as a living archive of becoming: a blend of lived experience and the desire to rewrite narratives. By channeling both vulnerability and resilience, she creates visual spaces where viewers can locate their own stories and their own healing.
Her artwork has been collected privately throughout the United States and internationally, including in Nairobi, Kenya. Chantrice continues to expand her creative voice, using art as a bridge–between past and present, current self and inner child, and the desire for connection and transformation.