Patricia RAIN Gianneschi
Visual Artist, Musician, Teacher, Gardener, Thinker, Activist, Mother, Wife, Sister, Daughter, Lover, Friend.
RAIN was born and raised in Chicago, and is an artist working across Poetics.
In her multimedia work, whether music or visual art, the intersection of social justice and spirituality is a thread that runs through all the disciplines of her work. As a teaching artist with students, from the classroom to the stage at the Art Institute of Chicago, she weaves a pedagogy with the same threads of spirituality and social justice.
Her paintings, prints and drawings going back over 35+ years represent an artistic practice rich in ideas, content, creativity and authenticity.
RAIN is currently a founding member of the art collective: MOTHER ART: REVISITED
Educated in the Arts at University of California, Berkeley. RAIN holds two degrees from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a Master’s in Art Education, and a Master of Fine Arts. She has served as a teaching artist for the Chicago Public Schools for 22 years, and as adjunct faculty in Art Education at The School of the Art institute of Chicago.
Recent exhibitions include Chicago, London, Athens, Mexico City, Barcelona, Monaco, Madrid, Prague, Venice, Dubai & Slovakia.
In the summer of 2018, I began a journey that has turned has led to the life- long study of Giotto, particularly Rothko’s relationship with the ‘Rebel of the Renaissance.” Giotto & Rothko Giotto di Bondone
• Born: c.1266; Florence, Italy
• Died: January 8, 1337; Florence, Italy
• Active Years: 1295 - 1337
• Influenced: Mark Rothko & other modern artists
• Teachers: Cimabue
“GIOTTO’S ROBES I” 2018 oil on canvas, graphite, oil pastel My journey following the steps of Mark Rothko, began while conducting research for my MFA Thesis. I stumbled upon a book; “Rothko & Giotto”. I thought, what….?
And so began an investigation of Giotto’s revolutionary painting style, and that journey continues to influence my work, and the work of many modern and contemporary artists.
Part of the journey that continues is to find the paintings, and frescoes that exist of the master’s work around Italy, mostly Tuscany.
My methodology is to study the work first, understand the message he is speaking of, through this work of art. And then I focus in on the robes themselves. The different folds, values, hues of color of which Giotto was a master. I Begin with oil and pastel, graphite pencil, and I work from the photographs, and images taken of these robes of Giotto, and I begin to abstract the robes. These small works are then brought back to the studio and larger abstract versions are now in process. The journey has lead me to learn much more about Rothko’s summers in Italy, like William DeKooning, Italy became a focus for many years, and Greece. Many of the great Modern Artists took something away from the great masters and reinterpreting the masters in a contemporary more constructive way is still the focus of many contemporary artists today.
In the painting, “Giotto’s Robes I” The Giotto painting was found in the Museum of Duomo in Florence. This was the very beginning of the journey, and represents the process of abstracting the images I chose in the folds and colors of Giotto’s robes. This painting stands alone as a study in abstraction, of line, form, and color, inspired by the hand of the rebel of the Renaissance, Giotto!
The work lives at the intersection of social justice and spirituality, two realms that often feel in tension. How do you navigate that convergence within your practice, and in what ways does abstraction serve as a vessel for both protest and transcendence?
In my work as a multimedia artist, I have attempted to engage the audience in a meaningful way. I express my art through these different mediums: visual art, poetry, performance, and voice. In each creative encounter, I employ an intuitive approach to my work. I sometimes wander through the page or the canvas in search of the next image, poem, or creative thought. My artistic practice has focused on the ‘unveiling’, the bringing forth of the inner being, the inner spirit, as Abraham Joshua Heschel describes: “it is an intention to reach out to the ‘other’.”
I am reaching out to the viewer through my work, inviting them to spend time with me, to ponder an idea, or a thought, or a memory, or to think about an issue in our world that needs our attention. These works have both a sense of spirituality and speak to issues of social justice. With each art form, I have attempted to lift the veil, to reach out to the other, to the viewer, to the audience to create a different moment in time, a new perspective. When the viewer encounters these works, a new and different thought pattern is perceived, and it is my intention to move not only myself, but also the viewer or the listener, to some form of social activism in their own lives, no matter how great or small that may be.
In works like PRAYER, PROTEST & PEACE IN PAINT and AFTER FALLEN BLACK STORM, there’s an unmistakable materiality of textured grids, etched scars, and tactile surfaces that suggest trauma, silence, and resistance. Can you speak to your use of physical surface as both a site of inscription and erasure? What stories are being buried or exhumed beneath those layers?
Sometimes artists reveal a personal truth, and sometimes it is a truth that needs to be revealed to the whole world. Robert Motherwell embraced the Symbolists for this very reason; as do I. It was the effect of the work on the viewer that we are concerned most with. I am concerned with the effect of my work on the viewer, or the listener, however that work of art can cause the viewer or listener to feel or think in a different way, however that may manifest. It may be for a moment, it may be for a lifetime. The political aspect of this work, although created through abstraction, inspires my search for meaning and truth using the formal elements of abstraction, including automatic drawing and collage, and the Symbolist desire of Motherwell, Kandinsky, Rothko, and others, to invoke a response in the viewer. For Motherwell, it was to invoke an emotion in the viewer which is intellectual in nature and many times political in thought. For Rain, it is a similar need to evoke a response that is spiritual, intellectual, and political in thought. The scars and lines of this work may represent the scars we feel, we see, and we have created upon our own citizens. The hidden prayers are my own private dialog within the artwork, with the Divine.
Your paintings often suggest a narrative without explicitly telling one; figures emerge, dissolve, or become elemental, as in After Calvary or Rain Gone Wild. How do you conceptualize the idea of ‘narrative abstraction’? Are these stories yours, collective, ancestral, or imagined?
The Symbolist artist wanted to depict not the thing but the effect it produces, as opposed to Impressionism, in which the emphasis was on the reality of the created paint surface itself. Symbolism was both an artistic and a literary movement that suggested ideas through symbols and emphasized the meaning behind the forms, lines, shapes, and colors in a work of art. Symbolism can also be seen as being at the forefront of modernism, in that it developed new and often abstract means to express psychological truth and the idea that behind the physical world lay a spiritual reality. I identify with the Symbolists because they could take the ineffable, such as dreams and visions, and give them form. What unites my work with the various artists and styles associated with Symbolism is the emphasis on emotions, feelings, ideas, and subjectivity rather than realism. These works are personal and express my own ideologies, particularly the belief in the artist's power to reveal truth. After Calvary really is a visual, abstract narrative; Rain Gone Wild is a visual diary of collective feminine experience.
You describe yourself as a “conjugated artist,” a phrase both poetic and political. What does this term mean to you in terms of hybridity, medium, identity, and voice? How does this linguistic framing help define your interdisciplinary path across painting, music, writing, and performance?
The term “Conjugated Artist” is not a commonly used term; however, it poetically reflects an integrated, boundary-crossing artistic identity. As a multimedia artist, as an interdisciplinary artist, I have strived to fuse these different disciplines into a cohesive body of work that reflects my MARK, both visually, orally, and spiritually. I believe ART can transform us, both individually and collectively. In my ‘conjugated artistic practice’, the artist does not fit within existing frameworks or defined categories, unlike the Hybrid Artist, who fuses many different technologies and mediums to create new work. I am creating new work in many different disciplines, including my actual voice sometimes, fusing them together as in the work “Empty & Willin” from my first album, “I & I”. This work includes piano, spoken word poetry, and the sounds of my painting.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/empty-n-willin/id1513779651?i=10004773563495.
In your artist statement, you mention 'secret messages' hidden in the textures of your work. Are these encoded for personal reflection, ancestral connection, or viewer discovery? What role does the ‘hidden’ play in an era where art is often reduced to instant readability?
For me, each painting is a different experience, a different thought or response to my own time. In the practice of working in paint and collage I find I can speak quietly through these hidden words, prayers, and symbols. These are encoded for personal reflection, but sometimes left with both hidden and a way for viewer discovery, adding more meaning, and which then makes the work a more interactive experience. The ‘hidden’ allows the viewer to step outside the busy and over stimulating culture we find ourselves in, and stop for a moment to reflect.
You have taught in public schools for over two decades while simultaneously exhibiting internationally and maintaining a multimedia studio practice. How has this dual role of artist and educator shaped your relationship with the creative process, and what insights have emerged from the classroom that have permeated the canvas?
I believe teaching is a calling. I have been teaching in some capacity since my 20s. My most treasured experience is the years I spent teaching art to the students at George Armstrong School of Int’l Studies. The students speak 37+ languages in the neighborhood school. This made for a rich tapestry for the art teacher. As a school of International Studies, we studied the art from all over the world, and the art program was the center of that curriculum. I traveled each summer to the country of study for the fall and created the curriculum as I walked around the streets, met the people, and learned about the culture. All of this was part of my artistic practice over those decades.
I participated in artist residencies, created performance art with my students for The Art Institute of Chicago, and sponsored both art and drama clubs after school. The students were my paintbrushes, and their education was my canvas... and I can say it was a joyful experience to teach 900-1200 children a year, the entire school, grades 1-8. I believe if you inspire a first grader to appreciate and love art, you have them for life. All of the things I have taught my students I have seen implemented in how and why I make art. I now see them with their children, implementing art into their children’s lives. The minor actors I am currently working with in television and film production find a special experience when they are on set with Ms. Rain as their studio teacher. I incorporate the arts into my studio teaching practice.
Many of your paintings, including RED CHINA SAILS and FALLEN NATION, evoke celestial or maritime symbolism, moons, suns, boats, tides, yet they remain abstract and dreamlike. What draws you to these recurring archetypes, and how do they function as metaphors for emotional or political states?
‘RED CHINA SAILS’ began as a poem, and then a song, never recorded, yet. It is very much a personal visualization of returning to a place where we sail away and make music, dreaming of returning to the islands of the Philippines, where my own music was born. I am a spiritual human being, and I sometimes express this in my paintings. The process of seeking these images to convey messages that remain abstract and dreamlike allows the viewer, as Rothko teaches, to stop and reflect on what they are seeing and feeling through artwork. ‘FALLEN NATION’ acts as a narrative of our times, as we struggle for balance. It is a collage and an oil painting that implies a nation in struggle, but in fact, the light is there, and there is hope. Color becomes the metaphor for HOPE for our nation.
The notion of 'un-painting' as you describe in your newer minimalist work feels like a powerful gesture in the face of a noisy, saturated world. What compels you to reduce, strip back, and retreat into monochrome? Does this act reflect a form of personal reckoning, political commentary, or spiritual quietude?
In my painting, color plays such an important and special part in each piece, in each piece of music. Sometimes the work of art needs to be loud, colorful, and full of life. And sometimes, the work is quiet, reflecting any one of the reflections you have suggested. So, when there is a personal reckoning, the dialog is through a visual vocabulary that I create; it has meaning for me, not necessarily for the viewer. But the work itself, through line, form, and monochromatic color, allows the viewer to contemplate slowly, for a moment, away from screens, the noise, and the hustle and bustle of our modern world. Working with a monochromatic palette strips the marks down to the moment of expression and allows the artist and the viewer a silent conversation, through color, line, and form. The monochromatic color palette, stripping down to the basic hues of black and white, creates a simple and deep space for spiritual thought and expression because of the simplicity, or the Zen nature of Black & White, Ying & Yang.
You have exhibited in monumental cultural spaces from Times Square to Art Basel to Venice, but you also hold space for intimate, local, and pedagogical encounters. How do you balance the global stage with grassroots practice? Where do you feel your most authentic voice is heard?
I have pondered this question for many days, reflecting on these thoughts. My teaching practice, which includes all the disciplines of my work, I think is the voice you are looking for. Balancing both worlds requires intention and humility; it means honoring the intimacy of local engagement even as I participate in international cultural conversations. All of these experiences inform and enrich my artistic practice, but it is in the everyday act of teaching and creating that I feel most aligned with my purpose.
While exhibiting in renowned venues connects me with a diverse, global audience, my true fulfillment often comes from the impact I make at the grassroots level—working directly with my students, film families, and fellow artists in the SAIC community, and through our collective Mother Art: Revisited. These interactions nourish our creative spirits and keep me grounded, reminding me that authentic expression thrives not only in the grand spaces but also within the everyday moments of connection and growth. In all of these realms, my voice finds resonance, but it is often in the smaller, more personal settings where I feel most deeply heard and understood.
From your early expressionist paintings in the 1980s to your current multimedia practice, what has remained constant in your artistic ethos? Looking back across four decades of making and mentoring, what truths continue to anchor your practice, and what illusions have you had to let go of?
Rather than letting go, my own struggle concerning very different dynamics has only strengthened my artistic ethos. The paradigm is the same: inequality, a silenced voice, a personal struggle for something misunderstood by those closest to me, and the continual crisis that brought transformation time and again in my journey searching for the spiritual in art. For me, the road has been a long one, and a determined path to arrive here at this moment in our time. I am a storyteller in my writing, in my music and songwriting, and in my painting. All my work has a narrative element to it.
I work intuitively, in the same way I believe that the poems are out there, the words are there for you to find if you are open enough. I feel the same when beginning a painting or a song. I may have an idea, but in the end, the painting, the music reveals itself to me. Creativity begins with the artist’s encounter. The abstract artist, of which I consider myself to be, begins with an idea, an emotion, or an inner vision that, as part of a ‘necessity,’ the artist needs to bring forth to the world through the act of creation. The materials then become the secondary part of the encounter—that is, the language, the medium. I have come to believe creativity occurs through the encounter that I, as the artist, experience. I, as the artist, bring a vision, a thought, or an emotion into the world through my art. Critical, meaningful, and transformative art is the most basic manifestation of humanity fulfilling their own being in the world.
All Creativity is basically the process of making, or bringing something into Being.
Exploring the Intersection of Social Justice and Spirituality
The work lives at the intersection of social justice and spirituality, two realms that often feel in tension. How do you navigate that convergence within your practice, and in what ways does abstraction serve as a vessel for both protest and transcendence?
The work “ resides at the convergence of social justice and spirituality, two domains that sometimes appear to be in tension”. Navigating this intersection is central to my practice, and abstraction serves as a vessel for both protest and transcendence. As a multimedia artist, I engage audiences through visual art, poetry, performance, and voice. Each creative encounter is approached intuitively; I often wander through the canvas or the page in search of the next image, poem, or creative thought. My artistic practice is rooted in ‘unveiling’—the bringing forth of the inner spirit, a concept described by, Abraham Joshua Heschel, as the intention to reach out to the ‘other.’ Through my work, I invite viewers to spend time with me and ponder an idea, a memory, or a world issue that demands attention. These artistic expressions carry both spiritual resonance and speak to social justice concerns. With each medium, I strive to lift the veil and reach out, offering new perspectives and moments in time. My intention is for viewers and listeners to be moved toward social activism, regardless of scale, through their interaction with my work.
The Physical Surface: Inscription and Erasure
In works such as PRAYER, PROTEST & PEACE IN PAINT and AFTER FALLEN BLACK STORM, the materiality of textured grids, etched scars, and tactile surfaces evoke trauma, silence, and resistance. The physical surface becomes both a site of inscription and erasure, with stories buried or exhumed beneath its layers. Sometimes, artists reveal a personal truth, while other times, a universal truth emerges. Like Robert Motherwell and the Symbolists, I am most concerned with the effect of the work on the viewer or listener—how it prompts emotional or intellectual responses. The political dimension of my abstract work inspires my search for meaning using automatic drawing, collage, and the Symbolist aim to invoke a response. The scars and lines may represent collective wounds, and hidden prayers become my private dialogue with the Divine within the artwork.
Narrative Abstraction: Personal, Collective, and Ancestral Stories
My paintings often suggest narratives without explicitly telling them; figures emerge, dissolve, or become elemental, as seen in After Calvary or Rain Gone Wild. I conceptualize ‘narrative abstraction’ as a means to express stories that are personal, collective, ancestral, or imagined. The Symbolist movement sought to depict not the thing itself, but the effect it produced, using symbols to emphasize meaning behind forms, lines, shapes, and colors. Symbolism, at the forefront of modernism, developed abstract means to express psychological truths and spiritual realities. I identify with Symbolist artists for their ability to give form to dreams and visions. My work emphasizes emotions, feelings, ideas, and subjectivity, rather than realism. After Calvary is a visual, abstract narrative, while Rain Gone Wild serves as a visual diary of collective feminine experience.
Defining the “Conjugated Artist”
Describing myself as a “conjugated artist” is both poetic and political. This term reflects an integrated, boundary-crossing artistic identity. As a multimedia and interdisciplinary artist, I strive to fuse various disciplines—painting, music, writing, and performance—into a cohesive body of work that reflects my distinct mark, both visually, orally, and spiritually. My practice does not fit within conventional frameworks, unlike the Hybrid Artist, but instead creates new work across diverse disciplines, sometimes incorporating my actual voice. A notable example is “Empty & Willin” from my first album “I & I,” which combines piano, spoken word poetry, and the sounds of my painting.
Hidden Messages and Viewer Discovery
In my artist statement, I mention 'secret messages' embedded within the textures of my work. These are encoded for personal reflection, ancestral connection, and viewer discovery. The role of the ‘hidden’ is significant in an era where art is often reduced to instant readability. Each painting offers a unique experience, response, or reflection on my own time. Through paint and collage, I quietly communicate with hidden words, prayers, and symbols. Some are intended for personal contemplation, while others invite viewer discovery, enriching the interactive experience. The hidden elements encourage viewers to step outside the fast-paced, overstimulated culture and pause for reflection.
The Interplay of Artist and Educator
Teaching is a calling for me. I have taught in public schools for over two decades while maintaining an international exhibition record and a multimedia studio practice. My most cherished years were spent teaching art at George Armstrong School of International Studies, where students spoke over 37 languages. This diversity created a rich tapestry for art education, with the program at the heart of the curriculum. Each summer, I traveled to the country of study for the upcoming school year, crafting curriculum based on direct cultural experiences. Artist residencies, performance art collaborations with students for The Art Institute of Chicago, and leading after-school Art & Drama Clubs were all part of my practice. The students were my paintbrushes, their education my canvas, and teaching 900-1200 children annually was a joyful endeavor. Inspiring young children to love art means cultivating lifelong appreciation. Lessons imparted to students have influenced my own art-making, and I now see former students passing on art to their own children. As a studio teacher in television and film, I incorporate the arts into my teaching, creating meaningful experiences for young actors.
Celestial and Maritime Archetypes: Metaphors in Abstraction
Many of my paintings, including RED CHINA SAILS and FALLEN NATION, utilize celestial and maritime symbolism—moons, suns, boats, tides—remaining abstract and dreamlike. These archetypes function as metaphors for emotional or political states. RED CHINA SAILS originated as a poem and then a song, visualizing a journey of return and music-making, inspired by dreams of the Philippine islands. My spirituality often finds expression through these paintings, and the abstract, dreamlike images invite viewers, as Rothko taught, to pause and reflect on their own responses. FALLEN NATION narrates our times of struggle for balance; while it depicts a nation in crisis, the presence of light and hope is suggested. Here, color acts as a metaphor for hope.
Minimalism and “Un-Painting”: The Power of Reduction
The concept of 'un-painting' in my recent minimalist work is a powerful gesture amidst a noisy, saturated world. Sometimes, art needs to be bold and vibrant; at other times, it calls for quietude and reduction. Retreating into monochrome is a personal reckoning, political commentary, and spiritual quietude. When the work is stripped down to monochromatic colors, the marks are reduced to pure expression, allowing both artist and viewer a silent conversation through line, form, and color. The simplicity of black and white—echoing the Zen nature of Yin and Yang—creates a space for deep spiritual thought and expression.
Balancing Global and Grassroots Practice
Having exhibited in monumental cultural spaces such as Times Square, Art Basel, and Venice, I also prioritize intimate, local, and pedagogical encounters. Balancing the global stage with grassroots practice requires intention and humility. My teaching practice, encompassing all artistic disciplines, is where my most authentic voice is heard. While international exhibitions connect me with diverse audiences, true fulfillment often arises from grassroots impact—working directly with students, film families, fellow artists in the SAIC community, and through Mother Art: Revisited. These interactions nourish creativity and keep me grounded, affirming that authentic expression thrives in both grand venues and everyday moments of connection and growth. Ultimately, my voice finds resonance across all realms, but it is in smaller, personal settings where I feel most deeply heard and understood.
Artistic Ethos: Constants and Transformations
From my early expressionist paintings in the 1980s to my current multimedia practice, certain truths have remained constant in my artistic ethos. The paradigm persists: inequality, silenced voices, misunderstood struggles, and continual crises leading to transformation. My journey has been long and determined, searching for the spiritual in art. Storytelling is integral to my writing, music, and painting, with each work containing a narrative element. I work intuitively, believing that poems and words are waiting to be found by those who are open. Similarly, paintings and songs reveal themselves to me throughout the creative process. For me, creativity begins with the artist’s encounter—a necessity to bring forth an idea, emotion, or vision through creation. The materials serve as the language and medium, secondary to this encounter. I have come to believe that creativity occurs through the artist's experience, bringing vision, thought, or emotion into the world. Critical, meaningful, and transformative art is the most basic manifestation of humanity fulfilling its own being. Ultimately, all creativity is the process of making or bringing something into being.