Printmaking / Mixed Media / Sculpture

Contact Information

1171 S. Ninth Street
Phiadelphia, PA 19147
e-mail: rebeccaprint@gmail.com
www.rebeccaprint.com
www.youtube.com
Please contact artist for purchases, commissions, etc.

Artist Statement

Drawing on symbolism collected from history, science, superstition, and literature, I work primarily as a printmaker to create layered woodcuts, translucent glue engravings, delicate print sculptures, and print installations. My work is characterized by a methodical technical approach to art making, a deliberately sparing use of color, and a down-to-earth recognition of my own primal cravings.

I am interested in the parallels between the scientific process and the process of creating art- presenting ideas and processes as something to be explored through trial and error. I am interested in the beauty of experimentation, failure, and people’s commitment to ideas and searching.

I make work about those moments when everything is just right and the bittersweet awareness that such moments are fleeting; about trying to divine the future; and about the pitfalls of trying to control one’s fate rather than simply experiencing it.

I make work about desire and change; hope and disappointment; working hard and clinging fiercely to optimism. My work is about looking inside yourself at what you have, what you are, and what you want, and then looking back out and trying to see those same attributes and desires in the world. It’s about living each day in pursuit of wholeness in spite of fear.

Artist Bio

Rebecca Gilbert is an experienced printmaker that works primarily in the mediums of woodcut and intaglio. She earned her MFA in Printmaking/Book Arts from The University of the Arts where she was awarded the Elizabeth C. Robert Prize for Graduate Study in MFA Book Arts/Printmaking. She earned her BFA in Printmaking from Marshall University. More recently, she studied non-toxic etching at the Grafisk Eksperimentarium in Capeliera, Spain. Rebecca has been an artist in residence at Jentel Foundation in Banner, Wyoming and is an alumnus of Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art in Philadelphia where she served as members’ president for four years. Rebecca teaches Printmaking at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Her work has been exhibited regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Education

2002
The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
MFA, Book Arts and Printmaking

2000
Marshall University, Huntington, WV
BFA, Printmaking

Professional Experience

2005 – present
Senior Lecturer, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

2009
Graduate Workshop, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

2007
Adjunct Faculty, Crafts Department,Tyler School of Art, Elkins Park, PA

2006
Assistant Professor, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA

Lectures and Talks

2008
Presenter, “How to Get Organized and Stay that Way- Things that Every Artist Should Have & What do I do Now”, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA

2006
Presenter, “wishes, compliments, and a tendency toward worry”, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA

Presenter, “Matched Pairs”, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA

Honors and Awards

2004
Special Opportunity Stipend, Pennsylvania Council for the Arts

2003
Jentel Artist Residency
One-month artist residency with stipend, Banner, WY

2002
Elizabeth C. Robert Prize for Graduate Study in MFA Book Arts/Printmaking, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

Work-Study Scholarship, Penland School of Crafts, NC

2000 – 2002
Fellowship, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

Professional Affiliations

Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Resident Artist alumnus
Southern Graphics Council, Member
The Print Center, Member
POST, Artist/Volunteer
Philagrafika, Member

Selected Exhibitions

Solo

2010
Raised Bed Fortune Patch, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA

Lead into Gold, Pennswood Gallery, Newtown, PA

2008
Dirt Thirst, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA

2007
anxiety bone nurture, Window on Broad, Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

2006
wishes, compliments, & a tendency toward worry, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA

Tests and Tributes, Printmaking Gallery, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

Keep On, Balance Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2004
Memento Mori Memento Amor, Big Jar Books, Philadelphia, PA

Group

2010
Landing Place, Palacio Huerto Ruano, Lorca, Spain

Ground Play, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA

Philagrafika Summer Solstice Benefit 2010, Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Some Things Change, Gallery One, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

2009
Faculty Exhibition, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

Nexus at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA

Exotic Invasives, Wallingford Art Center, Wallingford, PA

InSitu 628, Philadelphia, PA
Curator: Eileen Tognini

Art to be Read, Hamilton Galleries, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition

2008
Flipping the Bird, A Divine Convergence, MAPC, Fargo, ND

Live With It , Photo West Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Book Marks 2008, Birke Art Gallery, Huntington, WV

2007
Yummy: A celebration of Craving, Compulsion, and Culture, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA

Toying With Art, Art in City Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition

Faculty Exhibition, Print Gallery, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia Open Studio Tours: South Philly Group Show, Art at Sophi, Philadelphia, PA

Newton’s First Law, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA

2006
Bound/Unbound, Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

Matched Pairs, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA

2005-2006
Exhibit 2, InLiquid at the Bride, Painted Bride Art Center Café Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2005
From the Studio 2: Selections from the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, The Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition

One Night Stand, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA

Discontent II, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA

2004
Discontent I, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA

Wish You Were Here III, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY

2003
Animal Images; Real or Imaginary, The Plastic Club,
Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition

2002
Projet Mobilivre, Traveling show sponsored by Space 1026, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition

15th Annual National Works on Paper Exhibition, Abercrombie Gallery, McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA
Juried Exhibition

Exhibitions Curated

2010
Mediterraneo/Landing Place, Gallery 224, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA and Palacio Huerto Ruano, Lorca, Spain
Travel exhibition exchange with the Printmaking/Book Arts community from the University of the Arts and Portales del Arte.

Extra-Dimensional Printmaking Invitational, an Independent Project of Philagrafika 2010, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA