Rachel Mercer

Biography

Mercer is a painter from Cambridgeshire, now based in London. She studied at Cardiff School of Art and Design (2012) and is an alumnus of The Drawing Year (2013). From 2014-2018 Mercer co-ran Mercer Chance Gallery in Hoxton, exhibiting emerging artists. Alongside her teaching, Mercer exhibits her work regularly in solo and group exhibitions in the UK. In 2019 she was awarded a two-month residency in China. In 2023 she was Shortlisted for the Ruth Borchard and NEAC awards. She has work held in private collections.

Mercer is interested in capturing moments of everyday life. Her drawings and watercolours made from observation are used to inform larger paintings made in the studio. Recent bodies of work depict people in shopping centres and children in playgrounds. Her quick drawings of moving figures are used to create imaginative compositions using loose brushstrokes that imply action and movement through space.