Stacey Rathert
Looks Like Rain 2026
cotton, wool roving, fabric dye, organza, wire, embroidery thread, embroidery hoop
Artist statement
The sky darkens to the north.
Gradient.
From dusty cerulean to a shade yearning to mirror the chicory on the roadside.
But it is heavier. Foreboding.
Looks like rain.
The topography of Kansas allows for the eye to see for miles. The horizon line stretches out long, the trees pepper the gentle rolling hills and frame the creek beds, and the weather takes center stage. On a drive in Kansas one evening, as I pointed my truck north on a dirt road, I saw the gentle forming of storm clouds, probably somewhere in Nebraska. Going the opposite way earlier in the day I had admired the chicory growing in the road ditch, and I couldn’t help but notice the similarities now in the color of the sky. But the hue wasn’t as cheerful. While the storm that passed through later that night wasn’t severe, the build still had the appearance of something darker than the happy roadside. I am always filled with wonder when I am in Kansas, especially in the little moments of the landscape. This piece captures one of those moments.
Artist bio
Stacey Rathert is an artist originally from the way outs of Kansas, also known as the small farming community of Lancaster. Rathert received her Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Science in Education in 2011 from Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas. She then made an epic Uhaul voyage to the south to receive her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Mississippi, Oxford, in 2015. Currently Rathert is an Instructional Associate Professor at the University of Mississippi in Sculpture.
Working in a variety of scale, Rathert creates artwork that tells exaggerated and embellished stories centered on themes of personal and place identity, as well as her upbringing on a farm. She uses recognizable imagery to illustrate her narratives, elevating the mundane through alteration. The dualities of rural life contribute to the conceptual development of her work and visual characteristics of the Midwestern landscape and architecture are apparent in the aesthetic features. Relating to the performance of exhaustive storytelling, she is most drawn to materials that require meticulous methods to transform, such as cast metals and smithed steel. In addition, the materials she uses relate to childhood pastimes, including fabricated steel, reclaimed wood, dirt, and fabrics.
Outside of her academic and artistic endeavors Rathert enjoys a good, medium rare KC Strip with a side of carbs, butter, and garlic, quilting, adding to her collection of over 100 antique irons, sourdough, hikes with her cattle dog Mabel, yoga, escapes to the farm, restoring antiques, taking the long way home, and moving heavy stuff, over and over again.
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