Rachel Herd

b. 2002 Edinburgh, Scotland.  

BFA, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, 2025.

Rachel Herd investigates the complex tension between revealing and concealing the body through oil painting, printmaking, and photography. Her work explores the body in a sensual yet objective manner, celebrating its sculptural beauty while navigating the shame and discomfort that often accompanies its depiction. Herd’s practice is rooted in her own personal unease with the nude body in art—a discomfort shared by many, particularly within the Christian community. In challenging the views perpetuated by purity culture, Herd confronts and unpacks the shame instilled by such ideologies, using her art as a platform for questioning these cultural narratives.