Rachel Stone is an Australian artist who lives and works alternately in Byron Bay and New York City. She was born in Sydney in 1974 and studied fine art at Southern Cross University, completing her BFA whilst on exchange at the Pratt Institute in New York. She draws her inspiration from many sources, including her travels in India and Japan. Her paintings often incorporate collage and found objects, much as a piece of music might incorporate sampling. This body of work is an exploration of the theme 'looking for love.' Fascinated by the romantic imagery of the early-to-mid-1900s, the artist draws inspiration from old-school cigar boxes, silent black-and-white films and antique French love postcards. "Appreciating the amusing qualities of these romantically frivolous images - which are, by today's standards, comical in their whimsicality (if not downright absurd) - does not diminish the beauty of the human sentiment being portrayed by these starry-eyed creatures." http://www.rachelstone.com (July 2002)