manna gallery presents

Manna Gallery is pleased to present Surroundings, the first solo exhibition of paintings by Rachel Major. Created through a process of dripping paint onto canvas or wood, Major’s layered surfaces explore texture, color, and the balance between control and chance. This series is inspired by her daily encounters with the landscape surrounding her home in San Francisco’s Richmond District—a quiet, often foggy neighborhood bordered by Golden Gate Park to the south, the Presidio to the north, and Ocean Beach to the west. Her paintings reflect the shifting moods of this coastal environment, particularly the ever-changing view of the San Francisco Bay, the Headlands, and the Golden Gate Bridge as they emerge and recede through the mist. The act of covering and revealing in her work echoes the landscape’s own rhythms. Surroundings is a meditation on place, perception, and the quiet wonder of noticing the world around us.

Rachel Major (she/her) is from Toronto, Canada. She is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and earned her MFA from Mills College in Oakland, CA. Major has been a member of GearBox Gallery in Oakland, CA, since 2021. In her work, Major explores the complex relationship with food through various media, including sculpture, painting, and photography. Currently, she is focusing on creating paintings by dripping paint onto canvas to examine themes of covering up, exposing, and control. Her work has been exhibited across Canada, France, and the United States. Major also works with the San Francisco Art Education Project (SFArtsED) and the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), teaching art to children in public schools.

website rachelmajor.com

IG @rachelsmajorart