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Rachael Que Vargas
"My work is intended to be useful as well as beautiful. I enjoy the practical aspect of art and feel that engineering is as critical as ingenuity."
Rachael Que Vargas's creative mandate is "sustainable design with an edge." She works primarily with recycled or re-used materials to minimize impact on natural resources, climate, and the environment. Her functional art is designed for permanence and is intended to last for generations. Drawing from primal metaphor and classical elements of design that speak to what it means to be human and alive, Que Vargas creates objects that will never go out of style.
Que Vargas's Artisanal Firebowls are unique works of art hand-crafted from 100% recycled steel. No two are exactly alike, as every bowl is drawn and cut free-hand. The design and craft of Que Vargas's artwork owes a debt to the fifteen years she devoted to poetry and performance; she encodes meaning into her materials by marrying technique and metaphor. Using a torch to cut flame images into a tank for flammable gas to create a firebowl is a perfect example of how her materials and ideas work together.
Que Vargas has spent a lifetime in training for her career in the arts; at age eight she taught herself how to cast recycled lead melted over an open fire and learned to forge intricate toys working with steel, copper, brass, and semi-precious stones. Graduating from the writing program at Interlochen Arts Academy led to an interest in publishing and graphic design. Que Vargas worked as a freelance illustrator and designer while developing her fine art and chose to work full time as an artist in 2000. She specializes in combining techniques from different media to create hybrid designs.
Rachael Que Vargas's creative mandate is "sustainable design with an edge." She works primarily with recycled or re-used materials to minimize impact on natural resources, climate, and the environment. Her functional art is designed for permanence and is intended to last for generations. Drawing from primal metaphor and classical elements of design that speak to what it means to be human and alive, Que Vargas creates objects that will never go out of style.
Que Vargas's Artisanal Firebowls are unique works of art hand-crafted from 100% recycled steel. No two are exactly alike, as every bowl is drawn and cut free-hand. The design and craft of Que Vargas's artwork owes a debt to the fifteen years she devoted to poetry and performance; she encodes meaning into her materials by marrying technique and metaphor. Using a torch to cut flame images into a tank for flammable gas to create a firebowl is a perfect example of how her materials and ideas work together.
Que Vargas has spent a lifetime in training for her career in the arts; at age eight she taught herself how to cast recycled lead melted over an open fire and learned to forge intricate toys working with steel, copper, brass, and semi-precious stones. Graduating from the writing program at Interlochen Arts Academy led to an interest in publishing and graphic design. Que Vargas worked as a freelance illustrator and designer while developing her fine art and chose to work full time as an artist in 2000. She specializes in combining techniques from different media to create hybrid designs.
