Rachel E Dohner & Olivia Comai

Rachel E Dohner and Olivia Comai are artists based in Chicago, Illinois. Rachel works in fibers, sculpture, furniture, video, and designed objects. No matter the medium, tactility is essential—Dohner makes things that want to be touched, things that beg to be played with. Olivia works with puppets, painting, prints, drawing, and performance. Comai buzzes spoonfuls of nostalgia and humor down the gullets of viewers, making complex topics like queer identities, isolation, and loss more digestible. Comai and Dohner met at the School of the Art Institute, connecting over shared loves of maximalism and playfulness.

Learning about the origins of our food can provide crucial insight into our relationship with the natural world in everyday life. This is particularly true now, in the age of megafarms and monoculture: many Americans have very little sense of where our food comes from and how it is produced. We want to highlight the diversity of changing agricultural systems, where both industrial and independent farms are restructuring planting, harvesting, and sustainability practices to stay afloat in a rapidly shifting economy and environment.”

Hey Lady! Shelf Cabinet (2023) by Rachel Dohner.