Rebecca Ledbetter, Every Goodbye, All At Once

Words contextualize the world we live in, but colors provide an avenue to examine and interpret these perspectives. I am an abstract oil painter who focuses on color, texture, shadows, light, and tone in my work to construct colorful, abstract worlds to question accepted realities, such as relationships, communication, beauty, and love. I often feel a profound connection to words and their deeper meanings, and use those narratives as a release to paint a new world. The abstract breaks down the walls of understanding the subject immediately, allowing the space to breathe and envelope you. I’m particularly drawn to how relationships, connections, and interactions between people, both in written words and in life, are shaping our world, and often challenge those perceptions in my work. My goal is to unveil dialogue, question our truths, and make us curious about what they mean. Rather than see beauty, I want to see questions of what traditional beauty has become, or love, in a modern world, has transformed into something mainstream or calculated. Although written work allows us to understand these questions, paint allows us to question those understandings.

Edward Hopper summarized this same sentiment nicely: “If you could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint.”

Rebecca Ledbetter is an abstract artist who focuses on color, texture, shadows, light, and tone in her work to construct colorful, abstract worlds to question accepted realities, such as identity, relationships, beauty, and love. She often feels a profound connection to words and their deeper meanings, particularly in poetry, and uses those narratives as a release to paint a new world. She finds that while words contextualize our world, colors provide an avenue to examine and interpret these perspectives. Fascinated by the complexities of human relationships and the ways in which they shape our understanding of ourselves and the world around us, she uses her oil paintings, particularly abstract forms, and color, to break down our immediate understanding of the piece, allowing the colors and forms in the space to breathe and envelop you. She challenges conventional notions of love, beauty, and communication, encouraging viewers to question their own perceptions and re-examine these fundamental aspects of human existence.

After graduating with a BA in studio art from Denison University in 2013, she went on to showcase work in Ohio and Martha’s Vineyard before settling and establishing her studio practice in Philadelphia. She exhibited her first solo show in Philadelphia in 2023 at Side Street Gallery and has showcased her work both in-person and virtually in New Jersey, South Dakota, Philadelphia, and Martha’s Vineyard. She currently lives in Philadelphia and works out of Alter Street Studios in South Philadelphia.