Rebecca Orcutt constructs quiet, theatrical spaces in her ambiguously narrative paintings. She deliberately establishes moments where the characters seem to wait for events to unfold, the nature and outcomes of which are unclear. Within this uncertainty, she seeks to allow the familiar to transcend functionality and the commonplace, opening the viewer to the subtle emotions continually at play in our daily lives. With carefully arranged compositions stripped of detail until only the vital remains, the figures come to occupy spaces more psychological than physical and every relationship, be it between figures or between figure and object, becomes a point of tension. Within these unsettled relationships Orcutt builds a sense of tension and expectation, inviting the viewer to their own conclusions.
Orcutt received a bachelor’s degree in painting from Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts and a MFA from the New York Academy of Art in New York City. While enrolled at the NYAA, she was a President’s Scholar and was awarded the Leipzig International Art Programme Residency in Germany. Her work has appeared in shows around New York and the United States and internationally in exhibitions in Copenhagen, Denmark; Leipzig, Germany; at the National Portrait Gallery in London; the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland; and the Ulster Museum in Belfast, Ireland. in 2019, Orcutt was awarded an honorable mention in the Bennett Prize 1.0.
Rebecca Orcutt lives and works in North Bend, Washington.
Instagram: @beeorcutt
