Studio Tour with Tulsa Artists Eric Sall and Rachel Hayes
Culture Highlight // Studio tour with artist Eric Sall and artist Rachel Hayes, the dynamic husband / wife duo who call Tulsa home.
(Pictured: Eric Sall and OwnTulsa’s Dustin Thames Inside the Tulsa Studio of Artists Eric Sall and Rachel Hayes.)
ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT © OWNTULSA
When we recently began to transition from property chat to our other favorite lifeline, art, with Eric and Rachel, we couldn’t pass up the invitation to visit their new studio in Tulsa’s Pearl District.
As the years have grown our admiration for Eric and Rachel’s work, so has our desire to get up close and personal with their creative process. Who doesn’t love a good “behind the scenes”? Walking around all the paintings and fabric installations, both large and small scale, in this playful creative space was a treat. Not to mention we got to lay eyes on some of Eric’s skateboards and piles of oil tubes…interesting relics of his creative space.
Eric’s paintings have an organic reference to his past urban and rural living environments seen both in his use of pattern and scale. We loved learning how this South Dakota born and raised artist has grown in his creative influence through impressive artist fellowships in places as diverse as Brooklyn, New Mexico, Kansas City, and Oklahoma (among many other really rad living experiences across the country).
Each of Eric’s paintings are sure to bring saturation of color and movement to any space. They feel alive. Growing, evolving. Layers upon layers. His signature scalloped scrape. Perfectly executed. It feels like the paint reaches out from the canvas and you want to touch it. I am currently vibing his swirl charcoal and oil paintings - reminding us of the synergy between art and architecture. As personal fans of large scale interior art for the home….we highly suggest you take a closer look at his work. 👀
Rachel Hayes, okay first I have to admit…I’m totally girl-crushing on Rachel! Her energy is the kind of refreshing, calm you get when you coast a canoe out on the early morning Oklahoma waters, and pair it with the excitement of a preteen opening new sneakers under a Christmas tree; she is a total smash! Rachel is welcoming and her artwork brings exciting energy to any space.
Rachel is an internationally exhibited artist who creates translucent textile sculptures that complement the landscape much like we see of great architecture. During our visit she was working on the spacial play of one of her large format textile pieces with a suspension over the ceiling rafters. She even lifted the garage door (for full effect) to let light cast through her work (like the effect of stained glass) and shine over our 7 month old daughter Delphine (…who we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to bring along for the vibrant visit).
Rachel’s work is often invited for institutional installs, where she brings color, pattern, and sculpture to her audience. Installs vary from what might otherwise be a void staircase or standard atrium to natural environments like White Sands in NM, or the fields of the Texas countryside for installations at Round Top. It’s pretty cool to meet someone who reinvents brick and mortar spaces into playful, experiential art installations. Rachel’s work has been shown in collaboration with many well known institutions and brands - such as the Italian fashion house Missoni, the Sculpture Center in New York, and locally with an installation at Philbrook Museum to name a few.
At our recent visit we caught up with both artists during their preparations for an upcoming show in Arizona. They were packing up their work and adding the finishing touches. It was fascinating to see how they have grown to use their current industrial studio space to work and prepare installation layout - both paintings and sculptures.
Rachel was once quoted as saying “My work is sensitive to my location”. “…. I feel that I am changing the world, by adding and responding to it.” When I read this statement I felt that she is both mother to her creations as much as she (and Eric) have created through hard work and experience their opportunity to be representative of who they are and how Tulsa has molded them to the world stage.
In summary, if you’re so fortunate to explore Rachel and Eric’s work in tandem with a meeting of the artist, please do not pass the opportunity. You’ll meet two truly remarkable humans and certain to make new friends that transcends city and place.