Artworks

Rebekah Stuart 

The Influence of Female Artists

Rebekah Stuart's artistic practice has been deeply shaped by the works of Tacita Dean and Artemisia Gentileschi. Of Dean’s influence, Stuart says, “Watching Disappearance at Sea and The Green Ray impacted me deeply. I identify as an artist with the intimacy of observing the landscape combined with memory and history, revealing complex meanings.” Stuart admires Dean’s use of colour, noting how the “vibrancy of colour in her film works” resonates emotionally, and emphasizes how “nature’s hues can intensify within the mind’s projections”—a journey that Stuart also explores. On Gentileschi, Stuart reflects, “I am piqued by Artemisia’s use of chiaroscuro and tenebrism... dramatic contrasts where figures are spotlighted and intimacy is illuminated.” Stuart sees Gentileschi’s warrior-like figures as an embodiment of “struggle, surrender and resilience,” a theme she explores through “the metaphor of landscape.” She believes that female artists can continue to shape the future of the art world through their “incredible capacity for compassion and resilience.”