Rebecca Szeto

Just amazing !

Rebecca Szeto





Rebecca Szeto is an artist living and working in San Francisco, California. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of California at Berkeley in 1992 and has continued her artistic training to date with independent studies under Rose Shakinovsky and Clare Gavronsky in Montagnana, Italy and most recently, San Francisco, CA (2006).

Szeto has been a funded fellow at CanSerrat in El Bruc, Spain; Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada; and Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado, and was awarded a Pamela Joseph Merit Fellowship. She has also attended other residencies in Montagnana, Italy, and both Capetown and Limpopo, South Africa.


Statement
My work questions belief structures. I play with subtle shifts of perception. Moving between truth and fiction, I hint at a tenuous stability whose strength relies on its flexibility and resilience. Often, a humorous experience of confounded expectations greets the viewer, who initially recognizes one thing, but looking closer, realizes something is curiously awry. Whether I am combining latex and lace, using rust like oil paint, or pulling apart steel wool to draw, my works all ponder what the real material of creativity is.

The materials I use are mundane, unvalued, mass-produced objects including steel wool, spent sandpaper, thorns and rust. The process develops as an exploration of the qualities inherent in the materials and evolves into a deeper look at their implications. My works are markedly concise and quiet, steeped in wordplay, and often consisting of a single, focused visual element. This simplicity allows the viewer "space" where subtle material variations and meanings may arise and where adaptive re-invention is possible.

Lately, I've been drawn more and more to the idea of public art with a small 'p', no big pronouncements. The idea of works that quietly intervene in an environment . . . to be seen, not seen, destroyed or preserved by the random passerby. I'm intrigued by the "fleeting", experience that allows for chance, spontaneity, and interaction to shape its form.


Education
1992 - 2010 Private Study/Workshops with Rose Shakinovsky and
Claire Gavronsky, Montagnana, Italy
1988 - 1992 B.A. Fine Arts, University of California at Berkeley, CA USA
1990 - 1991 Language and Arts Program, Lorenzo de Medici, Florence, Italy





Awards and Residencies
2005 Honorarium, APAture Featured Artist, San Francisco, CA
2004 Full Stipend Recipient (Nov), Artist in Residence, CanSerrat, El Bruc, Spain
2004 Artist in Residence (Mar), with William Kentridge and Venda artists, Jo'burg & Limpopo, South Africa
2003 Full Stipend Recipient, Artist in Residence (Jan-Mar), Anderson Ranch Art Center, Snomass, CO USA
2003 Pamela Joseph Fellowship for Minority Artists
2002 Artist in Residence (Oct-Dec), Banff Centre Thematic Residency, Banff, Canada
2002 Banff Centre for the Arts Merit Scholarship
2001 Selections, ArtSpan, San Francisco, CA USA
1999 Artist in Residence (Dec), Michaelis Art Institute, Cape Town, South Africa

Facebook Page