Rachel Genito is the 2025 Zankel Scholar. She is a New York-based illustrator and sequential artist. She is currently a junior Illustration student at Pratt Institute and has a deep passion for storytelling.
Rachel’s work delicately and deliberately uses the line to show the art and craft of drawing she has spent years refining. To her, drawing is a practice deeply important, as it truly shows the artist’s hand at present. More so, she has also pushed her work into expansion into the 3D world, using paper engineering to create pop-up books, sculptural projects, and other forms of bookmaking. This tactile engagement is essential to her practice, transforming two-dimensional work into immersive experiences where the world of the work breathes and unfolds in the hands of the viewer.
Rather than drawing inspiration from only examining contemporary artists of the time, Rachel aims to pursue storytelling from the world around her. Telling personal stories in the form of graphic memoirs, other stories she’s heard from others into illustrations, and working in partnership with writers to create editorial works based on their writing, she is grateful to use her art as a bridge to connect her work to people. Building bridges between artist and audience, story and form.
Living and working in New York City, Rachel finds continual inspiration in the city’s energy, a relentless rhythm she seeks to reflect in her work. She is profoundly grateful to be part of a place that fuels her artistic vision and deepens her commitment to using illustration as both personal expression and cultural dialogue.