The wax sculptures of Rebecca Stevenson reference both Dutch still-life painting and the creatures and themes of myth. Her recent work continues to investigate themes of life, death, and nature. In her use of both wax and polyester resin, the textures can appear akin to centuries-old oil paintings, with her forms melding together.
“Rebecca’s method involves casting her animal sculptures in layers of resin and wax, and then incising them like a surgeon, peeling each layer back to create a cavity to host her cornucopia,” says James Freeman Gallery. “In contrast to the sombreness of the 17th century, her wax modelling is lush and bright, the sugarfrost coating almost sickly sweet. In her bronzes she takes the kind of curlicues that were thought to enchant the viewer and prompt awe, and replaces what should be cherubs with the heads of rabbits and game. The result is an investigation of the Baroque obsession with mortality, reinterpreted for the 21st century.”
Find more of her work on her site and the gallery’s page.
