The right place to be by Rachel Rae

Rachel Rae

The right place to be

Acrylic On Canvas - FRAMED

90 x 90 x 3 cm (35.43 x 35.43 x 1.18 in)

Framed: 93 x 93 x 5 cm (36.61 x 36.61 x 1.97 in)

Inv: 2026_171

AU$2,500

Available

This painting is inspired by a slow weekend afternoon at Milk Beach on Sydney Harbour, a deliberately unhurried moment set aside to catch up, connect and simply spend time together. Three figures sit at the water's edge while the harbour laps around them. I was drawn to the contrast between the intention of their stillness and the constant movement of the water. Each small wave arrives, retreats and reforms, creating temporary patterns across the sand and shallows. Like conversation, the movement wanders, overlaps, pauses and begins again.

My paintings explore the experience of being in a place rather than simply documenting it. Working in expressive layers of acrylic, I build the surface through gestural marks and overlapping colour, allowing moments of observation to move towards abstraction. The fragmented water reflects how these experiences are often remembered, not as a fixed image, but through impressions of colour, movement, conversation and feeling.

At the heart of this work is the value of unhurried connection, experienced by the subjects, the viewer and also myself as the artist. The figures have chosen to be here, making space in the busyness of life to sit together without an agenda beyond catching up. The rhythmic movement of the water becomes a quiet measure of time. The Right Place to Be is part of my ongoing exploration of the Australian coast and harbour as places of connection. Landscapes that invite us to slow down, be present and recognise that sometimes, there is nowhere else we would rather be.

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From Rachel Rae

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Additional Details

Additional Artworks

Where the Day Begins

In Between the Tides

Watching the Water

Growing Together

The Reset

Sunlit Summers

Lazy Days

In Good Company