Rhea trained in fine art at Hull University, and has featured in solo and group exhibitions in the north of the country. She has recently been selected for ‘Young Artists of the Year Award’ at The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle. She takes influence from the arts as a whole; music, lyrics, literary themes. Also from the concepts of artists such as Rene Magritte, Barbara Kruger, the painterly skill and attention to detail of Dali and The Pre-Raphaelites, the compositional qualities of Ronald. B. Kitaj, and most evidently from Robert Rauschenburg and Sigmar Polke's brave, defiant, lack of expositional restraint in the use of mixed media.
Consistently under commission, she explores the use of textiles, mixed media, and traditional painting techniques in a 2D format. Rhea describes her process as a means to produce exciting, opulent, sensitive and sensual paintings that aim to take the audience on a silent roller coaster ride of thematic tension, touching on historical, allegorical, fantastical narratives, pitched against the mundane and homogenous.
“My work is about conflict, contrasts and subversion. Living rurally, I often experience inner conflicts between feelings of peace, revelling at the majesty of nature and conversely, feeling overwhelmed and isolated by the vast expanse of nothingness encompassing me. In my paintings I want to explore these and other conflicts of opposites – town and country, masculine and feminine energies, innocent themes subverted by dark, sinister undertones.”
Recent exhibitions have included ‘Young Artists of the Year’ (The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle), 2011, Malice In Wonderland (Sewerby Hall and Gardens, Bridlington: 2011), Flesh and the Figure (The Art Works Gallery, Newcastle: 2009); Miscellaneous Portraits (Slack House Farm Craft Centre, Weardale: 2008);
www.rheasherriffhammond.com
www.myspace.com/beauxmyspace
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