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An interview
with Rebecca Fox:
sculptor
www.rebeccafox.com
Find out the latest exhibitions of Fox's
work here. |
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| All images have been
used with permission. All images are copyrighted
and strictly for educational and viewing purposes. |
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#147
welded steel
15" x 12" x 10" |
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Tell us a little
bit about your background? Where are you from originally?
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.
I moved to Santa Cruz to attend the University of
California at Santa Cruz. I then moved to San Francisco
where I have lived for the past 10 years. |
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#149
welded steel
30" x 21" x 5" |
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Who were your
main influences growing up?
I always appreciated art growing up but never had
any favorite artists so it is hard to pinpoint any
specific influences. My uncle is a metal-worker
and we always had lots of his pieces around the
house, so he is one of my main influences growing
up. I was also exposed to different art and creative
influences all throughout elementary, junior high,
and high school. Now, I have many artists that have
influenced me, with my favorite and most influential
being Alexander Calder. |
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#152
welded steel
24" x 11" x 5" |
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How did your
sculpture style develop?
My sculpture style developed by continuously working
on my art. When I first started creating sculpture
over nine years ago, I was attending City College of
San Francisco. Class was held only two days a week,
so I would work really hard and create lots of pieces
to maximize my time. The very first piece I did
I drew out what I wanted to make, measured, bought
the materials and created the piece which turned
out pretty close to the drawing. After this first
piece, I would never again draw a sculpture on paper
before I began nor would I work on one piece at
a time. I work on pieces simultaneously, and ideas
come to me as I pick out pieces of metal and begin
playing with shape and form. I work intuitively,
creating as I go, bending, cutting, shaping, and
welding until the sculpture is created. As I became
more involved with sculpture, I wanted to become
a good welder too, so I took classes and worked
professionally as a welder to improve my skills.
This had a definite influence on my style, as I
had a better foundation for metal-working and can
execute stronger pieces. After several years at
City College of San Francisco I needed more time
to work, so I moved into my own studio at Hunters
Point Shipyard in San Francisco. Now, I spend most
of my time working in my studio. Now that I have
become a much more skilled metal-worker, I can better
execute my aesthetic ideas which have become more
defined after years of working in this medium. |
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#154
welded steel
14" x 12" x 14" |
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What materials
do you use to create your work, and how much time
is required?
The material I use to create my work is steel. I
buy steel from scrapyards and metal shops. Almost
all of the metal I used is recycled. I reclaim it
and give it a new life. The metal comes from metal
shops that recycle unwanted and unused material.
Much of the material I use is pre-shaped or "drops"
that I then use as is, or manipulate into some other
form. I require a lot of time to create each individual
one-of-a-kind sculpture. I never work on a piece
from start to finish; I always work on multiple
pieces at once, going back and forth between pieces.
The entire process is very involved, beginning with
hand-picking all the pieces of metal at the scrapyard,
assembling the pieces, cutting, heating, bending
and shaping the material, figuring out the best
way to put the sculpture together, and welding and
grinding until the shape and form is complete. A
large part of the process is grinding down welds
and smoothing surfaces to give the piece a look
of continuous flow. I spend a lot of time on the
final finish using different techniques including
heating the metal, patinas, solvents, dyes, and
oxides, and finally coat each piece with a protective
sealer. Most often, the general shape and form of
the piece comes quickly to me, but the actual fabricating
and finishing is the most labor intensive and time
consuming part of executing a piece. |
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#163
welded steel
22" x 20" x 14.5" |
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Where do you
get your inspirational/creative ideas?
I wish I knew! I feel very inspired and creative
all the time. I believe it is from being in my studio,
surrounded by all my metal and tools, feeling eager
to work, and using my hands to execute my ideas.
When I am in my studio, the ideas just come to me
and I go from there. I am sure there are many subconscious
places I receive inspiration from, but consciously
I don't exactly know. |
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#166
welded steel
17" x 13" x 3" |
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What has been
the most rewarding and challenging project you have
worked on?
The most rewarding and challenging project I have
worked on is not one specific piece, but rather
breaking through on a piece that is difficult to
finish or complete. It is most rewarding to walk
into my studio, have a breakthrough and be able
to finish a piece that was at a standstill for
several months because I couldn't figure out
how to balance it or what the piece needed. |
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Rebecca
Fox |
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From your portfolio,
what is your favorite piece? Why?
My favorite piece changes often. Usually the piece
I have just completed is my favorite because I have
spent so much time working on it. Then the next
piece I complete becomes my favorite. But, at the
moment the one piece in particular that I am very
fond of is Sculpture #149.
The top part of the sculpture is just attached by
the narrow piece of metal that is bent over and
I like the sense of balance. Also, I prepared the
metal and wanted to heat it to bring out some of
the natural color, and was amazed at the very intense
and beautiful blue color that came out. Usually
the metal can turn blue, but never have I achieved
such a rich, bright and intense blue. This piece
is very special as I have never been able to re-create
the color and so this sculpture is one of my favorites. |
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To see more of Rebecca
Fox's work, please visit:
www.rebeccafox.com |
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