Groove 11 is mounting a salon series called What Matters Now, with an Opening Reception on August 18, 6-8 p.m. in our San Rafael office. What Matters Now is an exploration of ideas that inspire thinking in new directions, and touches on a wide variety of issues from the environment to human rights, community to healthcare, among others. The series is also a chance to support dialog amongst artists, business, and the larger creative community.
Seven artists are participating in our first show,. We spoke with each one about their work. Our next interview is with Rebecca Wallace.
Bon voyage
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The theme of the show is What Matters Now. In what way did that strike a chord with you?
I think there are a lot of things that matter now. We are more aware globally than we have ever been before. In a way this is great because people are becoming more conscious, but perhaps more conscious of their importance within their own communities, realizing how we are all interconnected.
I am really inspired by people who are thinking in terms of community, supporting local businesses, local farms. I am inspired by people who are finding ways to become self- sustainable, and looking outside large cooperate models for ways to live in terms of buying products and foods. There are also a lot of scary things happening in terms of our environment changing, and I think it can feel very overwhelming. It is important to keep things in perspective.
Perhaps we are starting to witness a change in perspective. Everything is interconnected. How we behave in our personal relationships is not independent of how we interact with the world. So much in the world is uncertain, but how we treat one another, how much we are grateful for what we have, these things remain in our own power. For me the relationships I maintain with people are the most important. We can become further removed from our relationships through technology, work, computers, stress, and in the end these things hold no weight. What is lasting is how you impact another person’s life through your actions.
What interests you as an artist?
I am interested in themes of longing and desire, attempts and failure. These are themes I incorporate throughout my work. The images I create are perhaps an attempt to recover something that has been lost. I am very interested in the idea of temporality and the fleeting present. These paintings are of landscapes that are fractured or fragmented. I use aspects of mediation, such as the camera or TV screen, as a way to discuss the viewer’s relationship to space, and to emphasize the ideas of looking and separation. The act of painting a landscape alone brings about a level of separation of subject and viewer, but there are several acknowledgments of removal within my paintings. I don’t think of mediation as a negative thing but rather inherent to our everyday experience, and for me it is interesting to use contemporary signifiers to reinvestigate the long-standing relationship between painting and landscape.
What inspires you?
Epic themes, music, reading, my fiancé, traveling. I like to listen to music and go driving, and usually the things I see or hear will start to inspire images I know I want to turn into drawings or paintings. What I love about music is that it has the power to generate a feeling within you, and great art also has the same potential. Lots of times just observing how light moves and changes the colors of its surroundings inspires me. And also sometimes my greatest disappointments and losses end up influencing and inspiring my work.
What new projects are you working on now?
I am currently working on some charcoal drawings that involve the theme of transition and change and incorporate water, film and photography as subject matter.
Is your work currently on exhibit anywhere else?
I have several paintings featured in the current issue of New American Paintings #87.
What upcoming shows do you have?
I am currently applying for several residencies, and working on a new body of work to show in the near future.
For more information on Rebecca, and to see more of her work, visit her website. And come to Groove 11 on August 18 for the Opening Reception for What Matters Now.