Rebecca Byrne
The overarching concerns in my practice explore a space between personal narrative and the uncanny in a quest to balance truth with fiction. I examine these ideas primarily in paint, thread and wax on canvas and board. Using photography gleaned from a variety of sources, I create a fractured reality that implies a personal narrative and references the relationship between painting and photography, autobiography and fiction. By layering stitched and painted images on top of each other, I endeavour to create a dissonance that emphasizes a sense of uncertainty about the painting.
I suggest that the most revealing art uses the personal to tell a universal tale and that the space between the personal and universal is where the work breathes. In my search for that space, I strive to inspire a feeling of familiarity followed closely by a sense that this place cannot actually be known; the images present a series of clues to a particular story but provide no answer. By obscuring the narrative in this way, I hope to leave room for questions. I propose that it is in the asking that a work comes alive.
Biography
Born in Chicago, USA. Currently lives and works in London.
Education
| The Chelsea College of Art And Design, London |
MA Fine Art, 2012 |
| The Chelsea College of Art And Design, London |
Post Graduate Diploma Fine Art, 2010 |
| The Prince’s Drawing School |
Spring, Summer 2009 |
| School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Continuing Education |
2006 – 2009 |
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Exhibitions
2012
The Griffin Art Prize, The Griffin Gallery, London, UK
The Art Cabin, Group Show with George Little and Soo Eun Baik, London, UK
The Signature Art Prize 2012, Old Spitalfields Market, London, UK
The Chelsea College of Art and Design MA Fine Art Degree Show, London, UK
The Ludlow Open 2012, The Millichope Gallery, Ludlow, UK
Painting in Conversation, The Bussey Building, London, UK
SPACE Open Studios, Vauxhall, London, UK
Out of Place, The Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK
MA Fine Art Interim Show, Triangle Space, The Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK
words to be looked at, Old College Library, The Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK
SHIFT, The Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK
Foul Perfection, The Castle, London, UK
Objects of Intent, The Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK
2011
Manifesto, Triangle Space, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK
2010
The Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize Exhibition 2010, London, UK
La Ruche Open Studios, Hive Projects, London, UK
Postgraduate Diploma Final Show, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK
Mise en Place, Triangle Space, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK
Brenda Landon Pye Exhibition, Triangle Space, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK
“my space”, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK
2008
The Chicago Art Open, Chicago, USA
Chicago Looks, City of Chicago, Public Art Program, May 2008 – August 2010, Chicago, USA
2007
Line and Color, Solo Exhibition, Thomas Moser Gallery, Chicago, USA
Member Artist Exhibition, Tall Grass Arts Association, River Forest, USA
51st Annual Juried Exhibition, Tall Grass Arts Association, River Forest, USA
