I see myself as a collector of sensual objects and materials with the predispositions of a mad scientist. I find myself intrigued with many materials I come into contact with, some for their formal properties like surface and color, and others for their inherent conceptual potential. Perhaps these tendencies are a result of my experience growing up in a household of craftspeople, my previous profession as a pastry chef, or my Bachelor Degree in Science. In either case, the decisions I make as an artist are deeply rooted in my daily experience with the world and the materials and spaces I interact with.
Office supply, house-ware, and candy stores are playgrounds for me. I am immersed in and seduced by contemporary culture and its products. I do utilize the traditional materials of sculpture such as wood, plaster, or steel as necessary, but more often I find myself driven and inspired by everyday materials that have a transient nature. Materials that can shift states of matter in a transformative manner and are temporary have been of particular interest to me in recent years.
Trained in a variety of materials that included clay in graduate school, I was immediately drawn to porcelain, as it is regarded as the most refined and valued of all ceramic wares. My treatment of the material involved working with it in the liquid state, referred to as slip. I would dip important papers, mostly journals and notes, into this porcelain slip and fire them to maturity. I was creating porcelain shells around the originals that required high heat to remain permanent, which in turn destroyed what it protected. At this time I became intrigued by the idea of contradiction in materiality, using a material that typifies strength and longevity, yet rendering it so fragile that a sneeze could destroy it.
I then began regarding other paper products from my home and office as art materials. Works such as "September Junk Mail" and "Scrolls" express my interest in flirting with concepts of value while reflecting on my interest in art theory and conceptualism. The staring point for these two works was also the written word; I was very interested in exploring documentation, preservation, presentation, and archiving. Museological methods and the notion of the contemporary artifact were a driving force for both creation and presentation of many works in two of my exhibitions, Devices of Organization and The Termination of Writing. Artist Fred Wilson and the Renaissance Europe Wunderkammer [cabinet of curiosities] were in mind. The latter exhibition epitomized this approach to destruction by fire and conservation by encasement.
In my first years of teaching, the space between my home office and studio blurred, to the extent that the tool I used for organization, the Post-it Note™ became my primary art material. "To Mark a Significant Space in the Gallery", a ten-foot stack of Post-it Notes™ was placed between the floor and the earthquake support of the gallery, as the region was a hot bed for seismic activity. My love of the Post-it Note™ was motivated by its use for marking and carrying important information, much as one might indicate a passage in a book, or leave a message on the refrigerator. This disposable yet beautiful material often carries valuable information, if even for a moment. Subsequent works, including "To Mark a Significant Space in the Bedroom" and "To Mark a Significant Space in the Living Room", were spaces that I covered entirely with Post-it Notes™ in a manner determined by the cost of the colored note aligned with the cost of the material in the room; thus offering the opportunity to further reflect on the materiality of living spaces while aligning the value system of 3M to dictate formality. The use of color in these works began a new dialogue related to beauty and sensuality.
As an artist, my studio process is largely project-based, with play as important element of my creative process. I make experimental objects that fill my studio and often become the inspiration for new works. Often the starting point for much of my work, both old and new, is paper. This is partially due to the swiftness of working with paper and the possibilities of using color as a means to organize. A material such a paper is generally not considered valuable independent of the information carried on it. Value is typically created through its use and meaning. Pieces such as "With a Cavity", "Directed Perspective" and "Cyclical Perspective" are intuitive explorations in this material. In making these pieces I am reminded of the works of the minimalists such as Donald Judd and Nancy Holt. These works and others ask the viewer to witness a specific perspective, a perceptual shift, and a moment of discovery when interacting with the work.
The motivations for my works are largely personal, yet the products are universal. In the installation "Breath" there is a palpable feel and awareness of our own breath when confronted with this large work, the desire to blow on a match or to touch the piece to see if it is soft or rigid is present. These are instinctual responses that cross boundaries of age and cultures. Similarly, in "Swallows", the viewer looks upward in anticipation that a drip or precarious spoon may fall and a sense of danger or inertia may occur.
The idea of danger and defense was a motivation for the "Sweetest Battle" and "Seeing Stars" series. The term battle is utilized much in history, but independent from its use in war, these battles are universally fought both psychologically and physically. Statements such as “battle of the bulge” and “battle with cancer” evoke an often negative and futile conflict between power forces. In these works I have beautified the objects associated with the brutality of boxing by making them alluring and hope to evoke a feeling of curiosity, longing, sweetness, and sensuality. These works also explore the sport of boxing as a metaphor for the act of interpreting art. Just as an athlete chooses to fight in a boxing match, an audience chooses to engage with works of art. It is not something we typically stumble upon, but it is an active engagement of intention and choice. The notion of consumption is approached both metaphorically and literally with titles such as "Seeing Stars" and "Purple Passion". Works are intended to captivate the viewers to come into close range with the work to find beauty for themselves and reflect upon their senses and emotions.
Value and permanence are elements that are important to me when determining the potential voice of materials. This notion is expressed in the new installation "Confection". My work maintains a balance of formal and conceptual motivations. I aim for the work to be playful, sexy, visually engaging, and a rewarding intellectual experience for those viewers who seek to look further.
Rebecca is represented by:
Estel Gallery
Nashville, TN
www.estelgallery.com