Rebecca Ness

Artistic Profile

Evolution

Evolution Trajectory

Clear progression from conventional portraiture (early training) → unconventional portraits through objects and spaces (Yale) → large-scale intimate interiors (post-MFA) → exterior spaces and 'portraits of place' (current). Increasing confidence in scale, complexity, and subject matter. Recent work shows integration of personal grief with continued technical mastery. Movement toward UK art historical engagement (Freud, Hockney) while maintaining Brooklyn-based subject matter.

Influences

Influences Cited

Art Historical

• Lucian Freud (most significant influence - materiality of paint, visible brushwork, recent homage painting of Freud's studio chair)
• Norman Rockwell (American illustrative tradition, everyday moments, narrative quality)
• Bruegel the Elder (dense compositions, multiple narratives)
• Édouard Manet (realist tradition)
• Alice Neel (portraiture, psychological insight)
• Martin Wong (Yale Art Gallery collection inspired her)
• Kerry James Marshall
• Sylvia Plimack Mangold (spatial perspective, domestic austerity)
• David Hockney (photography, perspective, investigations into looking)
• Honoré Desmond Sharrer (American surrealist, cartoony/realistic mix)
• Lotte Laserstein (referenced in self-portrait title)

Other Influences

iSpy books (dense visual searching)Children's storybooks and illustrationAlison Bechdel ('Fun Home,' 'Dykes to Watch Out For' - first queer narratives she encountered)Peter Saul and Robert Crumb (cartoony language made complex)New Yorker covers (once criticized for this, now embraces it)

Contemporary Artists

Nicole EisenmanDana SchutzCeleste Dupuy-SpencerJansson StegnerJordan CasteelJonas Wood

Themes and Subjects

• Queer community and identity - lesbian bars, queer spaces, authentic representation
• Everyday domesticity - bedrooms, studios, family basements, personal belongings
• Urban life - Brooklyn streets, subway commutes, city spaces
• Collecting and objects - 'We are what we keep' philosophy
• Intimacy and relationships - girlfriend, friends, social world
• Place as portrait - spaces that define people and communities
• Memory and nostalgia - childhood, family, personal history
• Vulnerability and introspection - recent grief, personal growth
• Observational detail - labels, logos, patterns, signs of wear and use

Movements and Periods

Stylistic Signatures

Horror vacui - densely packed compositionsHoarder-like arrangements of tchotchkes and personal belongingsMeticulously rendered wood grainsText and labels carefully transcribed (book titles, logos, signs)Clothing and textiles as character informationBicycle as recurring motif (appears in multiple paintings)Cats (personal pets appear in work)Unusual cropping and viewpointsSelf-portraits embedded in works (often in corners or reflections)Patterned shirts and clothing as visual focusBrooklyn street scenes and recognizable locations

Techniques and Mediums

Color

Vibrant, saturated color palette. Described as 'hyper vibrant world.' Carefully rendered patterns and textiles.

Scale

Often large-scale: 70x100 inches, 90x120 inches, 100x70 inches for major oils. Works on paper typically 30x22 inches.

Tools

Uses unconventional tools: transparent paint, craft-shop texture tools, Q-tips, rags, sea sponges, various brushes, oil pastels. Mentioned inventing own tools.

Detail

Meticulous attention to text, labels, logos, book covers, patterns. Paintings meant to be 'read like a book' with multiple viewing experiences at different distances.

Process

Creates digital collages from drawings, photos, and pieces of previous paintings as compositional studies. Paints from these constructed compositions rather than direct observation. Works simultaneously on multiple paintings when ideas come together. Uses iPhone to photograph works in progress, analyzes compositions at smaller scale.

Brushwork

Visible brushwork, deliberate gesture. Resists photorealism while maintaining striking lifelikeness. Contrasts 'big brush moments' with 'flashes of fine detail.'

Composition

Horror vacui - fear of empty space, densely packed compositions. Unusual vantage points, oblique angles, improbable perspectives. Multi-layered space that moves beyond traditional foreground/background. Inspired by father's architectural cross-section drawings.

Primary Medium

Oil on linen for major works, gouache and colored pencil on paper for works on paper