REVISIONIST RENDERINGS OF A MYTHICAL PAST
‘All utopian futures are revisionist renderings of a mythical past’, journalist Mark O’Connell sceptically conludes in his book To Be a Machine. His exploration of transhumanism (the philosophical and technological movement working on an update of the human machine) was one of the inspirations for this series of work on the correlations between religion and technology.
Coming from a religious background, Rappard is most interested series in the religious side of technology. She often noticed the Christian jargon from her childhood is returning in conversations about technology. The magical God of her youth plays a marginal role in today's disenchanted society, and it is as if technology has taken his place. The Cloud now seems all-knowing, the Singularity is by some considered a bringer of eternal life. And above all, AI is a mysterious entity for many, something you can talk to, something you can perceive a glimmer of, but whose essence remains veiled. Like God, who first appeared within a cloud.
In this series, Rappard aims to question where nowadays we place longings traditionally related to religion, such as hope, redemption, and the longing to live beyond this life.
‘Instigator (guiding light)’
acrylic, pencil on paper
240 x 150 cm 2025
SOFT MACHINES
Can machines be like us? If not, why? And how would they be different?
During a residency in London, November 2024, Rappard met with scholars from King's College and Goldsmith's University to hear their perspective on the social impact of recent technological development. This series flows forth from these conversations, and is at the same time related to the series above: questioning whether the human body can be regarded as a temporary machine harbouring an eternal soul, and if so; could a robot develop consciousness, have an inner, emotional life, a sensory body able to touch and feel touch, be able to feel empathy? Can technology be a companion to us, as another human being can?
‘Inner Life’
pencil and crayon on paper
168 x 240 cm
2021 
OUR SURFACELESS BODIES
The works in these series narrate on the desire to meet without a screen in between, the search for comfort and genuine contact people look for in technology. In the interplay between digitally and manually crafted works, Rappard tells of the desire to meet each other, apart from the digital world.
‘Body by Proxy’ acrylic, pastel, oil pastel, pencil on canvas 150 x 250 cm 2023
'Digital Bodies' and ‘Up Close’ mixture of handmade and digitally manufactured drawing 45 x 61 cm 2024
'Forward' acrylic, oil pastel, pencil, artist pen on paper 190 x 230 cm 2025
