Aubrey Rhodes

Artist Statement

I work as a full-time artist and live both in San Francisco, California, and in Melbourne, Australia. My artwork has been offered by Cain Schulte Contemporary Art in Union Square, San Francisco, by Reaves Gallery in Chelsea, New York, and currently a selection is on offer from Art Equity, in Sydney, Australia.

My paintings explore the contemporary self and its evolving sense of identity. I investigate the influences of pop-culture, marketing, and news media on social and individual motivation and behavior, and I question the plausibility of the authentic individual. Each painting is the result of a labor intensive process comprised of scavenging and collecting newspapers and media materials to use as collage backgrounds that form suggestive narratives for the over-laying figurative images I paint on top. Once the collage is created, the drawing and painting begins, and finally the piece is sealed in a thick coating of epoxy resin. In early 2011, my series "Upload," based on Great Britain's Machin Head stamp, was exhibited at the Melbourne Affordable Art Fair and enjoyed a sold-out show. My latest series, "Comic Relief," is a small series inspired by the TinTin comic and addresses a society's inclination to ignore the underlying social psychological patterns and behavior that threaten to destroy it.

My Melbourne studio is located in The Blender Studios, http://www.theblenderstudios.com/ at 110 Franklin Street, Melbourne 3000 VIC.