Rebecca Rose

“It Seems Such A Waste of Time”, 2023

Edition of 33, via Nifty Gateway:

To celebrate the release of our newest Art Attacks Video featuring Orlando sculptress and jewelry artist Rebecca Rose, we would love for everyone to get to know her a little better. We have shown you a little of what inspires her, we have shown you her rings, but who is Rebecca Rose really? Join us and find out as we interview this truly creative artist who is definitely one-of-a-kind in her field.

All photos by Marcus Adkins

Rebecca, thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. Can you please tell everyone in your own words who you are, where you are from, and what is it exactly that you do?

I’m Rebecca Rose, and my art is a hybrid of two genres, giving equal and due credit to sculpture and wearable art. I call them Sculpturings. I sketch, assemble, mold, carve, burnout, cast, and polish fully realized, yet tiny, pieces of sculpture meant to be worn as a ring.

Can you explain the relationship between artwork and jewelry?

I saw similarities in both my Sculpture Foundry classes and my Jewelry/Metalsmithing classes during college, but I couldn’t understand why there was such strict distinction between what is considered craft and fine art. In both cases we started with an idea, and transformed that idea from concept to reality out of wax and burnable objects. In both cases we plaster coated the original, kiln fired it, melted metal, and poured it into the negative space. I saw that sculpture and jewelry were relatively the same, interchangeable. And better yet, I saw established fine artists who were creating art jewelry as well, bridging that gap and dispelling the myth that jewelry is below fine art. Blurring the line so much that the line doesn’t exist or even matter. It may not fully be in the mainstream consciousness yet, but it’s been happening for centuries. Check out the lot of artists in my Art Attacks Online curation, or thumb through the book “The Artist as Jeweler” by Diane Venet.

 How did you end up getting into art?

I used to sketch moated castles sitting on my brother’s bed, sneaking in reruns of “Three’s Company”. My friend Jessie and I grew up going to museums, art shows, and the theatre. Every Tuesday we would embark on a new artistic adventure with our moms. Drawings and intricate collages were always in the works as gifts for my family and tight nit group of girlfriends- a group of rag tag creatives and free thinkers in their own right- all of us feeding off of one another artistically, intellectually, musically. Strong, artistic influences like that as a young girl made me feel comfortable immersing myself completely in art as I got older.

Is it a coincidence that you enjoyed working with small things (Legos, etc.) both as a kid and now as an adult?

I’m not sure if coincidence is the word for it, really. It’s been pretty consistent. Now that I’m older I realize these interests, elements, and materials of minutia have always been threaded into my being. Legos, dollhouse bits, the smaller the better and the stranger the better. I didn’t fully understand as a kid where it would take me, or as an early adult how far I would take it, but I have a pretty solid understanding now. Like being handed jigsaw pieces without having an image to go by, over time when you have enough pieces in place, you get an understanding of the big picture.

 Take us through the evolution of your art from then to now.

Earlier I would solely make unique, one of a kind pieces. I primarily still do, but I began to widen my approach and equate my art with two dimensional artists. I treat the unique original sterling silver Sculpturing like an unique original painting, and I treat my limited edition Bronze Sculpturings like limited edition prints of that same painting. During the concept and design phase the uniqueness is taken into consideration, while some are intentionally designed as limited edition pieces. The presentation and display of the work has evolved into a museum quality glass cloche dome and base, elevating the piece with an armature to have it float in mid air. Practically forbidding the piece of the gravity it desperately wants, with all that metal I use. Magnifying glasses near the pieces not only help guests and collectors see the detail clearly, but makes the experience between the art and the viewer more interactive and intimate. Each piece comes with the Sculpturing, Hand Blown Glass Cloche Dome, Black Engraved Base with Armature, Travel Pouch, and Signed, Numbered, Dated, Fingerprinted Documentation, so provenance is a cinch for the collector.

I see you earned a BFA at Northern Arizona University. What benefits were there to learning your craft in an environment with experienced faculty and expensive equipment. Disadvantages?

The equipment was fantastic, a true haven for casting, fabricating, forging, you name it. But it doesn’t really sink in until after graduating that you’re no longer enrolled so equipment access is denied. Most fresh grads don’t have the accessibility nor the resources to set up shop in their studio, and most apartments don’t allow combustible oxy-acetylene tanks nor torches on their patios. I didn’t have the means to continue casting so I stopped my art for a while. Not a pretty phrase. I felt dead. Suppressed. I painted for a while, and had success showing, but it was always a matter of getting back to the wax and metal.       

How was this situation in your life a turning point for your art career?

This punch of realism was absolutely necessary. I needed to be denied the chance to create in order to heighten my desire to get back into it again, because I felt I was going against my nature by not doing it. I became anxious to build what I saw in my imagination all those years, richly fertile with new ideas. I taught myself to be resourceful, and work harder to make it happen, to set a higher pace for myself, turn up the treadmill so to speak. I also needed time to step away and forget some of what I was technically taught. Not that it was poor instruction, on the contrary, my professors were highly revered. I needed to forget some of what I was taught in order to allow me to teach myself new processes, unveil the meaning behind my work, and in turn find my unique artistic voice, make it my own.

Let’s focus more on your body of work. What is the message you want to send by creating these rings? What is it you would like to say to people through your art?

Each piece begins with a philosophy or way of life that describes a current event, politics, pop culture, and I pair it with words that contain the word “ring” usually as a suffix in the title of the piece. Although the focus is sculptural form and the message each piece represents, another mission of my work is to change the collective mainstream view into seeing that jewelry can be an accepted conduit of fine art, associated with meaning and substance. I use precious metals so the work will financially appreciate over time. Removing the guesswork of investing releases the worry of monetary speculation, and more focus is placed on the themes, skill, compositions and individual messages themselves. Intended to be worn, the wearer shares the ideas with those they encounter. I think this idea of mobile art, or the idea that the person wearing it becomes the gallery and strikes up a dialogue about the piece’s message with others, enhances the wearer’s experience well beyond just owning it.

 What is your favorite part of the ring making process?

Carving, but I love casting. It’s extremely dangerous, but what an adrenaline rush, riding that fine line between uncertainty and suspense, fully knowing if one little mistake happens, I’ve got to start all over from scratch. The angst ridden suspense is unbearable at times, and to quote Willie Wonka, I always hope it’ll last.

I know you are an avid art collector. What types of traditional and non-traditional artists inspire you and why, and who are some names in your collection?

I admit, we have the bug. We surround myself with amazing art and at the same time contribute towards artists’ futures by buying their work. If Herb and Dorothy can do it on a shoestring, anybody can. Some months my husband Thomas and I end up eating a lot of hot dogs in order to collect a certain piece, but in the end it’s always worth it. Living in LA, I remember walking down Vermont Ave. on my way to the Metro Redline and coming across Shepard Fairey’s “Hug Bombs and Drop Babies” print plastered on a Vermont/Prospect lamppost. I must’ve stood there for a solid 20 min looking in a trance. The imagery, the composition, the wordplay, the printing, I simply thought to myself, “Damn, that’s brilliant.” I used to see Shepard’s work all over Los Feliz around 2003 or 2004. He was the first artist I started collecting, keen on his political prints of 2007-2008, the jewel of my collection undoubtedly being “Obama Progress” from 2008. Politics aside, the iconic lasting power of that piece is undeniable. Since the flood gates opened, Thomas and I have included the work of Alex Gross, Dave MacDowell, Stella Im Hultberg, Yosuke Ueno, Scott Scheidly, John John Jesse, Casey Weldon, Audrey Kawasaki, Travis Louie, Naoto Hattori, most recently Crag LaRotonda, and more into our collection. There’s always a list of pieces we pine after magnetized to our refrigerator door. We follow and admire many artists whose work will eventually join the wall party.

Orlando is such a small and emerging city in terms of the art world. What type of future do you see for this area, and do you think where the city is now is an advantage or disadvantage to artists in the area?

Thomas and I constantly consider moving back to LA, but we started to cozy up here. I usually fly where I need to for openings, events, Skype for interviews and such, etc. and to see family and friends! I feel bicoastal. An optimistic, I see it as an advantage. The Orlando/ St. Petersburg/ Miami region is a growing hotbed of talent: Scott Scheidly, Andrew Spear, Johannah O'Donnell, Boy Kong, heavy hitters like Sas and Colin Christian, Jasmine Beckett Griffith, artists who catch and retain national attention. The exotic peninsula. California East. It’s interesting that we talk about an artist’s physical residence as if that idea limits or contributes towards the reach of their art. True talent is borderless, and doesn’t constrain itself to regional limitations, and lucky for us the world wide interweb silently encourages that.

 You have been getting a lot of exposure recently which is really awesome. I even saw you were even in British Vogue? That’s great. What is next for you and can our fans expect to see you showing anywhere soon?

This week I finished up an interview with Urban Coco Magazine out of the UK, and an interview with a Master’s Student at South Africa’s Durban University who chose my work and approach towards jewelry as fine art as the topic of his thesis/dissertation. Working on a piece for "Oultrpreu Mourning" this November at 423 West Gallery in LA, and a couple shows at the Hive Gallery & Studios, a piece for an upcoming music video, and the issue of British Vogue is on the stands. Headed to Art Basel in Switzerland next week- thrilled about that! And continuing my blog posts via the Society of North American Goldsmiths & crafthaus, their scholarship awarded to me this season for efforts documenting the sub-movement of Bridgism: artists crossing over into jewelry and jewelry artists showing with painters and sculptors. I’ve got some great pieces in the works right now, my fingers are itching to jump from my keyboard to my workbench even as I type this!

But the bear is a country of heart