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Rebecca Farkas

Hereford
A multi-media artist creating animations, projections photographs, videos that touch on memory.

Rebecca Farkas transforms objects and spaces, creating installations, animations, photographs and videos. Rebecca’s work responds to places, people, their stories and memories, often in site-specific, temporary installations. Whether it’s a 30-foot- high projection onto a castle wall or an installation in an intimate office space, she seeks to produce a point of connection and a shared experience with the audience – always looking for a sense of wonder.

Rebecca’s recent work explores and updates the 17th century Memento Mori/Vanitas painting tradition; artists created paintings that gathered together objects, which could include flowers, fruit, vegetables, insects, skulls, books, clocks and so on. The translation of ‘memento mori’ is ‘remember you must die’ and the idea was to remind people that they should live their lives to the full. It’s a nudge about possessions and materialism that reminds us, ‘You can’t take it with you.’

As well as being exhibited in multiple venues, her work has been commissioned by Meadow Arts, National Trust, Rural Media, Centre for Cultural Value and Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum. In 2022, she was awarded Developing Your Creative Practice funding by Arts Council England.

Rebecca grew up in the circus, moving between towns and being educated on the road: this inspired a fascination with the transformation of different places and spaces and informed her journey into memory. After moving to Herefordshire with her family, Rebecca completed a BA (Hons) Fine Art at Herefordshire College of Arts as a mature student. She is passionate about helping to increase diversity in the arts, believing that art is for everyone.

 

Qualifications & Awards

Recipient of Developing Your Creative Practice funding from Arts Council England 2022-23

Winner of the Meadow Arts Prize 2010

Fine Art BA (Hons) - 1st Class, Hereford College of Arts, 2010

 

Commissions

Friction - a commission by the Centre for Cultural Value to create a short animation, in response to a digest report on the social role of the artist.

Head, Heart, Gut - a short animation created in response to a commission by The Hour Collective to create a piece of work in one hour, in response to an 'aha moment' during an artist coaching session.

Sun Stands Still with Leanne O'Connor - commissioned by Meadow Arts, this short film celebrates the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, with photographs by people in rural communities.

Object Love – commissioned by Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum, the project gathered people’s favourite objects and stories together to create digital animations. It included online and physical workshops for Headway and MAGGS (charities for people with head injuries and homeless people).

Ledbury Poetry Festival commission – a collaborative audio and visual installation, work in progress. 

Memento Mori – video projection installation for a young people’s live event, using animation to investigate ideas of mortality, material possessions and living life to the full, part of Create Fuel, an event commissioned by Herefordshire’s a Great Place/Rural Media, also shown at Eastside Projects, Birmingham

Volka – site-specific installation in a rural church, as part of The Light, an exhibition of artists using light in their work.

Thereby Hangs a Tale – artist residency at Croft Castle & Parkland (National Trust) commissioned by Meadow Arts, resulting in site-specific projection into a neglected cellar space in the castle for Time Will Tell, group exhibition. Accompanied by public artist’s talk. (This piece was reconfigured at a much larger scale for In Another Lightin 2014-15, at the request of National Trust and Meadow Arts.)

A Shrine to Our Precious Things – commissioned by Meadow Arts for In Another Light, group exhibition at Croft Castle & Parkland. An installation on two nights: members of the public joined in to create a ‘shrine’ at Croft Castle. This was accompanied by a website where people could contribute pictures and stories of personally ‘precious’ items that they owned.

 

Exhibitions

2023 Longings & Belongings, digital animation, At a Loss exhibition, Art Central Gallery, Wales

2023 Longings & Belongings, digital animation, MEMORY - Mykolaiv ArtWeek, Platforma MyART, Ukraine

2023 Friction, digital animation, commissioned by the Centre for Cultural Value, based at University of Leeds

2023 Head, Heart, Gut, digital animation, EOP Summer Camp & STREAM, Eastside Projects

2023 Dragging up an exhibition: An unlikely cast of characters, collaborative online exhibition, Axis

2023 English Language, 4 drawings, Spirit of Fire exhibition, Herefordshire

2023 Longings & Belongings, digital animation, Borderlines Film Festival

2022 Still Life, digital animation, Borderlines Film Festival

2021 Head, Heart, Gut, digital animation commissioned by The Hour Collective

2021 Still Life, digital animation for International Women’s Day – exhibited online by Hereford College of Arts as part of In The Frame

2021 Object Love (excerpt), Borderlines Film Festival

2020 Sun Stands Still, a short film made with Leanne O'Connor to celebrate the winter solstice in rural communities, commissioned by Meadow Arts

2020 Object Love, digital animations commissioned by Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum

2020-22 R&D project with Ledbury Poetry Festival – commissioned artwork in progress

2019 Memento Mori II, single-channel digital installation, ESP Summer Camp, Eastside Projects

2019 Memento Mori, video projection installation, part of Create Fuel (commissioned by Herefordshire’s a Great Place/Rural Media)

2019 LIZDJ.UK online featured work Thereby Hangs a Tale (studio image)

2018 The Twelve Trees, installation, Blue Studio, Abergavenny

2017  Untitled, site-specific installation for The Happening, Rural Media/Invisible Arts Network, Hereford

2016 Unseen, site-specific installation, Hereford College of Arts

2015 Volka, site-specific installation, The Light, St Michael’s Church, Kingsland, Herefordshire

2015 Believe, video installation, Group Show, Hereford College of Arts

2014-15 A Shrine to Our Precious Things, live public event & online artwork; reconfigured Thereby Hangs a Tale large-scale                            outdoor installation, In Another outdoor installation for In Another Light, Croft Castle, Herefordshire (commissioned by Meadow Arts/National Trust)

2013 Artists’ Talk: Rebecca Farkas & Lexi Strauss at Worcester Museum & Art Gallery for PITT Projects

2013 Thereby Hangs a Tale, commissioned work for Meadow Arts/National Trust exhibition, Time Will Tell at Croft Castle, Hfds (including Artist’s Talk)

2013 Ludlow Open, video

2012-13 Artist in Residence, commissioned to make work for Meadow Arts exhibition Time Will Tell

2011 Spread Art, photographs, Art 360 (for h.Art 2011)

2010 Herefordshire Open Exhibition, video

2010 h.Art, photographs, The Print Shed

2010 Summer Show, installation, Hereford College of Arts (graduate show)

2009 Summer Show, installation, Hereford College of Arts (group show)

2008 The Pen, artist’s print, Material, Ludlow

2008 Open Studios, photographs, video, installation, Hereford College of Arts

2007 h.Art, Frame Up, photographs, Hereford

2007 All Saints Church, photographs, Hereford

2007 Summer Show, artist’s print, Hereford College of Arts

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