About the Artist
Rebecca Rathgeb is an interdisciplinary visual artist living in Philadelphia. She has graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing from the University of the Arts. Rathgeb works primarily in oil paint on canvas and panel. In addition, she has practiced printmaking and creates works using relief and monotype techniques. Rathgeb’s work references her family photo albums. She has been awarded the Eisenberg, Roberta Treatman Scholarship, Ernest W Greenfield Annual Memorial Award in Painting, and the Marguerite and Otis Walter Scholarship for Art History while attending the University of the Arts. Rathgeb has had the opportunity to intern for the Senior Artist Initiative and Vox Populi gallery in Philadelphia. Her most recent achievement was being a part of the group exhibition, “All of Us”, at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Email: rebeccarathgebart@gmail.com
Artist Statement
Rebecca Rathgeb plays with merging the past and the present. The artist’s work is based on a large collection of family photographs. Through the exploration of albums from her families’ pasts and recreating the images using diverse materials, Rathgeb is looking at the past through the lens of the present. The artist is representing images of her mother’s childhood through drawing, painting, collage, and printmaking. “We have all taken the time to look through photos and photo albums. When we look through photos from our past and our families past it is common to feel nostalgic. We then begin to think about our own family history and how we might have been raised similarly or different.” The contents of her family’s photographs allow the viewer to get a sense of Rathgeb’s family history. She is inviting the viewer to make connections to their own families and histories.