Prize Winner

Visual Arts Scotland

Painting & Printmaking School of Fine Art

Rebecca Niska

(she/her)

The basis of my art practice is to intertwine the relationship of hard and soft elements that we encounter in our daily life through architecture, nature and emotions. These topics are composed structurally, whilst also subconsciously drawn from the shapes and colours of our surroundings. The outcome is three dimensional work that stretches between the physical and the pictorial. In my practice I am constantly playing with the power of display as well as how my installations can be tied in with the attributes of the space.

The material I use in my work plays just as an important part as the medium. This is highlighted through investigations of coalescing of objects with organic materials such as clay, wood and metal. My practice is very driven by notions of happenstance and a curiosity of these materials clashing and coming together to create work that plays with illusions of mass, gravity and structures. It is a constant dialogue between the state of the raw materials as well as how these materials can be manipulated and worked into, in relation to their characteristics. Recently I have mainly been working with wood and learning about the craft and handling of this material in its many forms.

The recent focus of my work has been to look closely at details of construction sites and random objects that map our passages around Glasgow and constantly changing our pathways. The way the materials in these sites have been stacked, leaned or left out before being put into their intended usage, has impacted my work visually. In a similar notion I aim to play with the bodily movement of the viewer through out my displays and most of my works are installed in a state of balance, fragility and tension. The main approach for my material use is to construct my work around scrap materials to bring awareness of material wastage and how found objects can be recycled and redefined in artefacts

Contact
siirirebeccaniska@gmail.com
S.Niska1@student.gsa.ac.uk
instagram.com
Works
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Untitled. 2023-2024
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Sculptural Installation. Clay, Chicken Wire, Metal, Bungee cord, Foam, Red Pine, Natural Resin Paint. 245 cm x 49 cm x 39.5 cm.

Untitled. 2024

Different pieces of found wood, ply and flexi ply. 76.4 cm x 65.5 cm x 18 cm.

Untitled. 2024

Plywood, oil colour, wood stain, timber and red pine. 47 cm x 46.5 cm x 12.2 cm.

Untitled. 2023-2024

Old pen display made out of acrylic sheets and metal base. Plywood, flexi ply, red pine, metal, foam and wood stain. 215 cm x 61 cm x 76 cm.

Untitled. 2024

Different scrap wood (red pine and ply sheet.) aluminium and wood stain. 40.5 cm x 33.5 cm x 2.7 cm.

Untitled. 2024

Red pine frame, plywood and flexi ply, aluminium hose, bungee cord, metal chain fly trap, wood stain and interior paint. 226 cm x 191 cm x 60 cm.

Untitled. 2024

Red brick, metal pipe off cuts, bungee cord and L-bracket. 155 cm x 21.6 cm x 6.5 cm.