Rebecca Rothfus Harrell
Artist's Statement:
There are benefits and drawbacks to city development and growth. One consequence of rapid growth can be the loss of smaller, local businesses. A small business may find it is unable to continue as rent increases, unable to compete with big-box prices or loss of consumers to the convenience of online retail markets. In the transition, what is left behind are abandoned storefronts, papered windows, and empty buildings awaiting demolition. The paradox is that the same is also found in small towns dotting the landscape between the large cities. Dwindling populations leave behind shop owners faced with unsustainable businesses. An interstate while providing faster, more convenient travel draws tourism away from what had been small town thoroughfares.
I have been documenting what I identify as the primary signifier of this state of flux across the country. An empty sign hanging askew above a bolted front door, a familiar shaped frame with exposed bulbs towering over the defunct gas station or the torn fabric of a shop sign exposing the supports intended to hold it taut. I find these structures visually and conceptually captivating. They have a history but no longer serve the intended purpose. These remnants often remain on site and in a decaying state for some time. They become something ignored, part of the background noise that is the landscape, both urban and rural. As I reinterpret these objects, I aim to visually transform the found structure into an architectural form, a partition or a window through which to view. These empty signs are given new context and new meaning.
Artist Abbreviated Bio:
Rebecca Rothfus Harrell is a visual artist living and working in Austin, TX. She earned a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Tufts University/School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Her work has been shown in numerous exhibitions in locations such as: Chicago, IL; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Marfa, TX; Miami, FL; Philadelphia, PA; San Jose, CA; and Austin, TX. She attended residencies at The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of NM (2019), The Vermont Studio Center (2017) and The Banff Center (2015). Harrell is a 2020 Pollock-Krasner Grantee.
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Artworks by Rebecca Rothfus Harrell are included in the following Camiba Gallery exhibits:
discards vessels fragments - February 2023
INSIGHT: CAMIBAart Artists’ Perspectives on 2020
GEO + PRECISION + SPACE - February 2016
Rebecca Rothfus Harrell ~ artist
Austin, Texas