Click on thumbnails below for full details and enlarged images.
Rebecca Swainston Head for One of the Deranged (with rabbit) | Rebecca Swainston Head and Head of a Bird | Rebecca Swainston Small Girl for One of the Deranged |
Rebecca Swainston Bird Inside, Bird Outside | Rebecca Swainston Inside the Large Dress | Rebecca Swainston Pantomime |
Rebecca Swainston Long Armed Woman | Rebecca Swainston Tipping Away the Fear | Rebecca Swainston Woman, Blue Child and Spirit Dog |
Rebecca Swainston Mother and Child | Rebecca Swainston Reaching over White Dog | Rebecca Swainston Agnes's Jacket |
Rebecca Swainston Drawing for Agnes's Jacket | Rebecca Swainston Submission to the Dress | Rebecca Swainston Another Self |
Rebecca Swainston What Might Have Been | Rebecca Swainston Strong Woman Returning Gaze | Rebecca Swainston Ginger Twins |
Rebecca Swainston Forbidden Place | Rebecca Swainston Keeping Quiet | Rebecca Swainston Sisters Balancing |
Rebecca Swainston Woman and Dolls | Rebecca Swainston Centre Parting | Rebecca Swainston Alizarin Head |
Rebecca Swainston Blue Rapunzel | Rebecca Swainston Girl in Green Dress with Horse coming towards Her | Rebecca Swainston Shrine |
Rebecca Swainston Kiss from a Bird | Rebecca Swainston Woman Split | Rebecca Swainston To Be A Bird |
Rebecca Swainston Woman in Paper Dress | Rebecca Swainston Girl in Striped Stocking | Rebecca Swainston Woman, Child and Maribou Stork |
Rebecca Swainston Smoking | Rebecca Swainston Dog on Shoulders | Rebecca Swainston Fire Fly |
Rebecca Swainston Horned Woman and Pink Dog ll | Rebecca Swainston Woman Stepping into Wooden Dress |
Rebecca Swainston
'Forbidden Places'
A dreamlike universe of secrets, misbehaviour and ambiguous narrative
The Culmination of Two Years Work of Paintings and Drawings
12th June – 31st July 2010
Modern Artists Gallery is delighted to welcome back Rebecca Swainston to the gallery with an exhibition of over thirty new works this summer. This will be the artists' fifth show at the prestigious Berkshire gallery and will include an eclectic range of paintings, watercolours and drawings.
The universal appeal and recurrent success of Rebecca Swainston's work is in her ability to express how objects, clothes and spaces hold memories and reverberations of people and events. Much of this is expressed through the animals in her paintings which symbolise the personality traits of the people and strike up connections and meanings of their own. With the echoes of things not quite seen or imagined she is also able to explore mental boundaries and the places where we retreat inside ourselves. The lively, and often comical images hint at relationships, secrets and misbehaviour. Swainston artfully blurs the line between reality and imagination which leads to a dreamlike universe within which the viewer can escape. The themes spring from domestic and personal life but the visual vocabulary draws on a wider cultural and universal experience. The result is a series of compelling images with layers of narrative and an ambiguity which will encourage visitors to return to her work time and time again.
The artist's commitment and skill is evident in every stage of her work: the careful preparation of smooth gesso surfaces, her mastery of drawing and exuberant use of colour. The images are intricate and beautiful with a seductive jewel-like quality. She works extensively in sketchbooks which have become fascinating visual working documents, some of which will be available to view at Modern Artists Gallery.
Education
1987 – 8 MA Fine Art Chelsea School of Art
1984 – 7 BA First Class Hons. Fine Art Printmaking, Winchester School of Art
1983 – 4 Foundation in A&D, Brighton Polytechnic
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