About Me
Artist Statement
Rebecca E. Volkmann , Artist Statement,
I changed my vocation professionally one year ago. Moved across the country. Flipped my past reality as a “professional” worker. Took a year to revisit my creative life that has always been there. I have found solace in painting. I am investigating dreams, poetry, relationships, and my place as a woman and creator in this crazy, messed up world. Examining what my relationship is with a visual language and query into “self”. This quarantine has provided me with time and space to sit with my paintings. My personal narrative has become mainly about being human and craving a deeper human connection.
I have been investigating the intimate and raw energy of love and life. When there’s a focus on ”What is self” then there is a question of “what came before?” and “who am I?” When I was about seven, I remember being given a corner of our basement, a table, and this funky 70’s orange and yellow skinny, rectangular paper(about 3” x 7”?) by my Dad. This became my studio and I created “Ladies” and designs for their attire. I never questioned “why”, or “what”. I only created and sometimes stayed in that place for hours. My mode d’emploi may have changed, but that “Id” still remains in that place. I nurture that authenticity and flow.
My work is based in experimentation and is by nature intuitive. My focus is on careful observation and what comes out in the painting itself through color, layering, poetry, and texture. The most difficult risk is to not be afraid to work over the original image, yet show remnants of what once lay beneath. I have always been influenced by abstraction, action painting, figuration, and investigating a deeply personal narrative. There is life in dreams, intuition, and what came before art.
My Media
My primary materials currently are water based including acrylic, watercolor, and inks. I have experimented with many different mediums, such as clay, acrylics, oils, collage, and pastels. I believe that working in a single medium is restrictive to my artistic process. Each idea manifests in its own individual style.
My Inspiration
Memory, dreams, and family history all intertwine to create my personal narrative.
I truly love to paint intuitively, so I wait to see what will emerge in the first stages/layers of painting or drawing . Recently, I have been using my own photos both portraits and images from nature around me to inspire my compositions and/or subject matter.
Events and exhibitions
Upcoming Exhibitions:
2021, February, Something Beautiful, Galleria La Pigna - Palazzo Maffei Marescotti, Rome, Italy.
2021, January, Lights for the Future,Corriere dell ’Arte Magazine, Online Exhibition and Article, Turin,Italy
Past Exhibitions:
2020, November, Vor Kunst, Group Show, Van der Plas Gallery, Group Show,NY, NY.2020, November, Vor Kunst, Group Show, Van der Plas Gallery, Group Show,NY, NY.
2020, October, Quo Vadis, Group Show, Van der Plas Gallery, Group Show,NY, NY.
2020, August, Under the Mask, Group Show, Van der Plas Gallery, NY, NY.
2020, Upcoming and Virtual: , New York Art Center, NY, NY.
2020, March, A Changing Landscape-The Female Eye, Group Show, Van der Plas Gallery, NY, NY.
2019, Solo, Art in the Palisades Post Office, Washington, DC.
2018, SPACES, Noma, Group Show.
2017, RAW Artists DC, Howard Theater, group exhibition.
2016, RAW Artists DC, Howard Theater, group exhibition.
2014, Solo, Art in the Palisades, Palisades Post Office window display, Show curated by Shoshanna Rosenbaum.
2013 Solo, Art in the Palisades, Palisades Post Office window display, Show curated by Shoshanna Rosenbaum,
2007 Solo, Art in the Palisades, Palisades Post Office window display, Show curated by Sheila Rotner.
2004 McLean Project for The Arts, "reference:The Question of Abstract Art", group show curated by Lisa McCarty.
2004 Solo, Art in the Palisades, Palisades Post Office window display, Show curated by Sheila Rotner.
2004 Corcoran College of Art + Design, Corcoran Museum's Gallery One, All Senior Show.
2004 Corcoran College of Art + Design, Corcoran Museum's Hemicycle Gallery, Senior Thesis Exhibition.
2004 3 South Gallery, Baltimore, MD, "Together with U", 2004 Corcoran BFA Candidates Show.
2003 Corcoran College of Art + Design, Fall semester Senior Preview Show White Walls student gallery.
2003 Corcoran College of Art + Design, Fall semester Senior Proposal Show White Walls student gallery.
2003 Art in the Palisades, Palisades Post Office window display, Show curated by Sheila Rotner.
2002 Glen Echo Park-National Park Service, Labor Day Art Show, Glen Echo, MD.
2001 Absolute Arts/ Worldwide Arts Resources. A website showcasing international artists.
2001 Glen Echo Park-National Park Service, Labor Day Art Show sponsored show in Glen Echo, MD.
2000 One Hundred Dollar Art Sale, Housed in the former Kultura Bookstore Space in Dupont Circle, Washington, DC.
2000 Art-O-Matic. A phenomenal group exhibition that highlighted the work of over 700 artists. A month long extravaganza. Washington, DC
1999 Project Space. A group exhibition of the Fine Artists applying to the District of Columbia Commission on Arts and Humanities Grants-in-Aid program. Washington, DC.
1998 Artspace. Corporate presentations of my artwork by co-founders Pam Fredericks an Flora Kantor. Washington, DC.
1997 South Shore Cultural Center. "Women of Vision", a group show sponsored by the Chicago Park District.
1997 Corcoran College of Art + Design. Group Show at the Georgetown facility of students in Mindi Weisel's abstract painting and collage classes.
1996 Corcoran College of Art + Design. "80 Works" exhibit. Show of each juniors' 80 pieces in all media created within an intensive two week period.
1994 Near Northwest Arts Council. "Sacred Memories". Exhibit of regional women artists. Chicago, IL.
1994 Caffe Trevi. Group exhibit of local artists and employees. Chicago, IL.
1993 Special Love, a benefit exhibit/auction for the Robert Taylor Housing Project Art Center. Chicago, IL.
1991 Open Studio Exhibition. In my storefront studio space in Chicago, IL.
1990 The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. "Pinholes", a photography class exhibit.
1988 The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. First Year Show. Two mixed media pieces exhibited.
**Work exhibited online currently with ETSY, Instagram, and Facebook.