Virtual Symposium Spotlight - Rebekah Laskin
Among the gems in our jewel of an online symposium this summer will be a presentation by legendary enamellist Rebekah Laskin, titled “My Work: From Analogue to Digital and Back”. Long known for her mysterious brooches, some of the first contemporary enamels to feature soft matte, distinctly non-precious surfaces, they were devoid of recognizable imagery. Yet these exquisite works suggested mysterious, perhaps abandoned architecture with small openings on the surfaces hinting at scaffolding or framing, some with bits of gold foil tucked into small grottoes. Many had suggestions of palimpsests, the surfaces seemed to incompletely cover traces of previously applied information. These miniature paintings were truly groundbreaking works in the 1980s and 90s.
At the turn of the 21st century she shifted her focus away from enameling. Because of constraints, as well as opportunities, offered by living in New York City, she began to explore digital design and 3D printing. The results of her explorations into this new technology, combined with her classic sense of color and design, have culminated in digitally printed hand colored work of remarkable delicacy and subtlety.
Rebekah continues her distinguished teaching career at several New York City institutions which have included F.I.T. and Parsons School of Art, and has work included in virtually every significant collection and museum including the Smithsonian. Recently, she has returned to the enameling fold and we are glad to find her once again in our midst. She will speak about her beginnings as an enamellist, her early influences, the development of her leading-edge enamels, and her journey into a world about as far from the ancient hand skill of enamels as one can venture. She will describe her trip into the world of computer assisted and computer produced design, and back again to her first love – enamel.
