Biography
Mike Rachlis’ painting practice occupies a challenging space between representation and abstraction, fragmenting imagery while referencing art history with equal measures of admiration and disdain. His work celebrates the universal duality that exists within people and systems alike. Primarily focused on the figure and portrait, Rachlis considers the subject matter of his paintings to be as important as the physical application and surface of the paint itself.
His paintings celebrate both the mastery of oil painting and the artist’s surrender to the medium’s untamable nature. This tension is reflected in the images he creates and references—at once a love letter and a defiant gesture. Working exclusively in oil on canvas or linen, Rachlis often produces large-scale paintings that emerge through bursts of intense activity separated by long periods of contemplation. He frequently works on multiple paintings simultaneously, discarding and restarting many more works than he ultimately completes.
While compelled to paint, the reasons behind that impulse remain elusive. Over time, however, Rachlis has come to understand that discovering why may be less important than the act of painting itself.
Since graduating from OCAD University in 2013, Mike Rachlis has lived and worked in Toronto. He has exhibited throughout Canada and the United States, and his work is held in private collections around the world.
