Rachel Singer

2024 Bodies of Work

Theater

Rachel Singer (she/her/hers) is a multidisciplinary artist, teaching artist, and certified occupational therapy assistant. Her work in puppetry, sensory theater, physical theater, ritual, and dance explores the liminal places of barely tangible worlds where memory meets imagination. Much of her work is influenced by ideas of collective liberation, nature, community, Jewish mysticism and her experience being disabled. Her goal is to collaborate in opening more space for cross-pollination, to exchange, develop and investigate meaningful accessible techniques that enhance clinical and creative practices through the arts, wellness, and disability culture. She currently presents at universities to teach workshops on integrating the arts, disability justice, and occupational therapy. Rachel has taught her workshops at schools including, George Washington University, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, University of Chicago and University of Illinois Chicago. As an artist and occupational therapy practitioner, Rachel’s work explores concepts of being, becoming and belonging. Her work centers around collaborating to foster meaningful experiences.

Rachel began working in puppetry at Redmoon Theater in the build shop in 2007. In that same year she began working as a teaching artist and taught dance in the Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Park District from 2007-2023. From 2008-2021, Rachel co-founded and lived in an artist collective called The Solarium, where they focused on building community through the arts.

Rachel’s current guiding questions are: How can we do a better job integrating the arts and wellness without pathologizing people participating in the creative process? How can we elevate everyone’s experience in the room to learn and create with each other, deconstructing the power dynamics re-enforced by society’s hierarchical models? Simply put: Why aren't we in the "room" creating and growing together? How can we constantly move toward collective liberation?

In 2024, as a 3Arts/Bodies of Work Artist-in-Residence, Rachel merged her work as a theater artist and dancer with her work in occupational therapy and disability culture. The themes of her work delve into the practice of imagination and the creative process with individuals and within community settings. Rachel lives with non-apparent dynamic disabilities. Her creative work often reflects her experience living with extreme muscle fatigue and energy fatigue due to myalgic encephalomyelitis from neuroinvasive West Nile virus. The world moves at a pace that many of us are unable to keep up with, sending a message that we, as a collective, are broken. Perhaps we are not broken, but rather live in a world that is sick. Through her work, she works to shift into a political/relational model of disability we are reclaim the complexities of community, purpose, self-determination, and human connection.

Profile caption: Image of Rachel standing on a bridge with water behind her.

Rachel Singer's Website

Featured Artworks

Rachel performing under a n exposed light. She sits in front of a projection screen. The screen has a quill projected on the screen.

Eve of a Great Remembering: Ancestors Rachel Singer performing in Eve of a Great Remembering with Shadow Puppet Quill. Rachel's performance for Chicago Puppet Lab 2023. She is performing under a n exposed light. She sits in front of a projection screen. The screen has a quill projected on the screen with a live feed camera connected to her multiplane.

Rachel Singer and Genevieve Ramos sit across from each other at a table. Between them is a toy theater with hills, houses, clouds and nets emerging from a suitcase.

Eve of a Great Rembering: The Village of Creatures Rachel Singer (left) and Genevieve Ramos (right) sit across from each other with a toy theater emerging from a suitcase. They tell a folktale about greed, abundance and human nature. brave lux/ joe mazza Rachel Singer (left) and Genevieve Ramos (right) sit at a table with a toy theater emerging from a suitcase to tell a story about greed and abundance.

A shadow puppet of a bird, overflowing ink jar, and a quill cast in a warm toned light.

Eve of a Great Remembering: The Crow and the Scribe Shadow puppets on drum. Photo by Rachel Singer Hand drawn and cut black cardstock shadow puppets made by Rachel Singer. Rachel uses these puppets as shadow puppets on her multiplane with a live feed camera.

A papier-mâché puppet of a fox against a quilt and bedsheets.

Eve of a Great Remembering: Fox Leaping Through Dreams Fox puppet leaping through dreams. Photo by Rachel Singer A papier-mâché puppet of a fox against a quilt and bedsheets leaping through dreams.

Hand cut green trees, seven watercolor trees against a textured paper.

Eve of a Great Remembering: From the Shadows to Life Watercolor forest for multiplane puppetry. Photo by Rachel Singer This watercolor forest is a part of a live feed multiplane puppetry piece.

Don Chopotle: Pen and Ink Train Interior Interior train pen and ink drawing. Photo by Rachel Singer This is a pen and ink drawing by Rachel Singer that was turned into a 7 foot dragon train puppet.

Five people holding a large scale drawing/puppet of an interior of a train mounted on cardboard. Bird's eye view of puppet pieces held together on the ground about to be transformed from a train to a dragon.

Don Chipotle: Train transforming into a dragon. Pen and ink interior of a train that was transformed on stage to become a dragon train. brave lux/ joe mazza Rachel Singer directing puppetry for Don Chipotle.