About the Artist
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Rebecca Gilbert is a Philadelphia-based artist whose work exemplifies a dedication to traditional printmaking processes. Influenced by her years of experience in book arts and rare book conservation, her innovation in executing these processes in combination with cut paper and assemblage, push the boundaries of what a print can be.
Rebecca’s prints can be found in numerous public collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, Ashmolean Museum, Zuckerman Museum of Art, St. Bride Foundation, and Princeton University Library’s Graphic Arts Collection. She maintains an active exhibition record, and has extensively exhibited her work regionally, nationally, and internationally, including in galleries and museums in New York, California, Spain, Canada, Korea, Estonia, and England.
Among Rebecca’s most recent awards are a Victor Hammer Fellowship from Wells College in Aurora, New York; an Illuminate the Arts Grant to support her current project, A Dance of Death in Two Parts; a Creative Research and Innovation Grant; an Independence Foundation Fellowship; and a Winterthur Artist/Maker Fellowship.
Rebecca holds a master of fine arts degree in printmaking and book arts, has extensive experience teaching fine art at numerous institutions, is an active member of The Wood Engravers’ Network, and is represented by The Print Center in Philadelphia.
Website: RebeccaPrint.com
Social Media: @Rebecca_Print
Artist Statement
Representations of portals, longing, mystery, and communication between the realms of the living and the dead are embedded throughout much of Rebecca Gilbert’s work. She interprets these ideas in woodcut, wood engraving, etching, and letterpress as those processes allow the integration of a high level of detail and meticulously refined craftsmanship.
The pieces in this exhibition are part of a recent body of work titled Visions of Plenty: Observation, Perception, Illusion, and Reverie. Inspired by historic moveable book structures and optical devices, the work invites viewers to explore optics, perception, and the act of seeing by transforming intricately detailed prints into dimensional works on paper. The dimensional elements of the imagery and the constructions allude to different planes of existence.