ARTIST STATEMENT
My work explores memory, grief, and the quiet ways we learn to carry what has changed us. Working in oil and cold wax, I build, scrape away, obscure, and uncover layers, allowing traces of what came before to remain visible. That process feels a lot like memory to me: some things fade, some resurface unexpectedly, and some never completely leave us.
My figures are intentionally faceless, creating space for the viewer to bring their own story to the work. At other times, I remove the figure entirely and let the landscape hold the emotion. Across these paintings, I’m interested in that space between absence and presence, heaviness and light, holding on and moving forward. I don’t think healing means erasing what we’ve lost. I think we absorb it into our layers, carrying pieces of it with us as we become someone new.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Rebecca Mancini is an award-winning Chicago-area artist working primarily in oil and cold wax. Her atmospheric paintings explore grief, memory, anxiety, resilience, and the complicated process of becoming someone new after loss. Through layered surfaces, quiet landscapes, and solitary faceless figures, she creates work that feels deeply personal while leaving space for viewers to bring their own stories.
Rebecca’s process mirrors the emotions behind her work. She builds, scrapes away, covers, and uncovers, allowing traces of earlier layers to remain. Rather than hiding the history of a painting, she lets it become part of the finished piece. Her work has been exhibited throughout the Chicago area and recognized with multiple awards. She lives and works in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.
© Rebecca Mancini