Rachel David
Savage Horizon Jewelry Cabinet, Stainless steel, steel, brass, gold leaf, and flocking
Rachel David is a metalworker, sculptor, and designer whose practice bridges art, furniture, architectural elements, community activism, and gardening. Through materially driven work that explores relationships between bodies and landscapes, David investigates themes of colonization, social equity, and environmental justice. While her work consistently pursues beauty and functionality, it is never purely aesthetic; each object is imbued with meaning and serves as a vessel for story, holding the chaos, harmony, horror, and joy of lived experience.
David is a co-founder of the Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths and served on its governance committee from 2017 to 2025. She is the recipient of the James Renwick Alliance’s 2021 Chrysalis Award for Emerging Artists. David has taught at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (ME), Peters Valley School of Craft (NJ), Appalachian Center for Craft (TN), the New Agrarian School (MT), and Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (IL). She has organized and curated exhibitions including Nu Iron Age (2017) and Meta-Formation (2019–2020), and her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in solo and group exhibitions.
