Rebecca Agnew - Biography

Rebecca Agnew is a painter, sculptor and stop-motion animator. Agnew’s work explores the human condition in our expanding cultural economy, reflecting on these themes through referencing history, art and artefact she uses the figure and traces of human intervention as a centrepiece. Most recently her work has focused on exploring the variety of social and physical worlds connected by the supply chain of mobile phones. “My recent stop-motion animation 3 channel work ‘I like the way you like’ is a non-linear exploration of the social and physical worlds connected by the supply chain of mobile phones. This concept informed my humanoid, surreal characters and material choices of recycled phones, paper leaves and glitter. The materials I use reflect ecological impact of human actions and the interpersonal narratives that play out between people when faced with conflict.”

Rebecca Agnew lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. In 2004 she completed at Bachelor of Fine Art, University of Otago, Dunedin, before relocating to Australia and completing a Master of Fine Arts, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, Melbourne in 2012. In 2015 she was awarded the Keith and Elizabeth Murdoch Travelling Fellowship, with residencies undertaken with Waaw, Saint Louis, Senegal and Theertha Red Dot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Agnew was a Studio Resident at Gertrude Contemporary in 2018-19 and in 2013 was commissioned by Artbank to complete a Stop-motion animation for their permanent collection. She has led Animation Workshops for the inaugural Melbourne Triennial, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, and previously received an ArtStart Grant from the Australia Council for the Art in 2014.

Recent exhibitions include Pink Frost, Tinning Street; Gertrude Studio Artists Exhibition, Gertrude Contemporary; Melbourne International Animation Festival; Waaw Gallery, Saint Louis, Senegal; Immaterial, Articulate Project Space, Sydney; Interior 2.1 (TRAMA Centro), Guadalajara, Mexico and Video Arte Australia Nueva Zelande, M100, Santiago, Chile. Agnew’s work is represented in the collections of the University of Otago, Dunedin; Artbank and private collection in Australia and New Zealand. Rebecca Agnew had a recent residency at the Vermont Studio Center, Vermont and is currently on a residency at Varda, Sausalito Bay, California.