Rebecca Thomson, Sage and Salmon
Rebecca Thomson’s work is a quiet and sometimes haunting homage to domestic handcrafts. Items of domestic ephemera - loaded as they are with nostalgia and poignancy - are an important resource for her. Vintage papers, fabrics and embroideries are either represented in or incorporated into her works.
The original object and its image are often hard to separate as Thomson generates a convincing trompe l’oeil effect by printing directly from fabric and lace remnants. She represents depth and dimension with slight shifts of tone and surface texture, and uses a range of drawing, print and collage techniques to execute highly detailed imagery. She also incorporates crafts such as knitting, embroidery and marquetry into her print practice.
Having gained a degree in Printmaking from Christchurch Polytechnic in 1998, Thomson has since exhibited regularly in NZ and Europe while working as a secondary art teacher. She has been selected for inclusion in the Leseedra world print annual in Bulgaria five times since 2006. She works from her home studio in Geraldine, South Canterbury.