practicing artist & graduate teacher
Rebecca Pidgeon, age 24, is a Melbourne-based artist who works predominantly with pencil. She grew up in a house crowded with the paintings and sketches of her grandfather, three-time Archibald Prize winner, William Edwin Pidgeon (WEP), and was subsequently encouraged and inspired from a very young age to be creative and use art as a method of expression. She was Art Captain in her last year of high school and completed her Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts (Visual Art) at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2020, followed by a Master of Teaching (Secondary) majoring in Visual Arts & Design at The University of Melbourne. She has worked in Art Education for the past year.
A key theme in Pidgeon’s work is self-perception and identity. Having struggled with poor mental health since early high school and later being diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, she has been inspired by artists such as Vincent Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo to use self-portraiture predominantly in her practice as a way of expressing how she views herself and the world around her. Pidgeon creates pencil drawings on collaged layers of paper to imitate the layering of emotions and experiences that make up life. Ideas commonly explored within this format include reflection, feeling out of place, recovery and growth. Her unique outlook on life as someone on the ASD spectrum has allowed her to create a dialogue about the internal and external struggles about trying to fit into a world not designed for someone like her.
resume
WORK
2023 - Art Technician, Berwick College
2022 - Visual Art Teacher, Berwick College
2021 - Training Curator, In.cube8r Gallery
EDUCATION
2020 - 2021 - The University of Melbourne, Master of Teaching (Secondary), majoring in Visual Arts & Design
2017 - 2019 - Victorian College of the Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art), majoring in Drawing & Printmaking
AWARDS
2019 - Victorian College of the Art’s Irene Sutton Award
2018 - Victorian College of the Art’s Stuart Black Memorial Bursary
2017 - StArt Up: Top Arts, shortlisted
2016 - Visual Arts Captain, Eltham College
PUBLICATIONS
2020 - Interview with Bec Pidge: Wanky Schools & Intrusive Questions - podcast (Listen Here)
2019 - We Make Things Blog, Audrey Lister – artist interview
2017 - Farrago Magazine Edition 4 2017, University of Melbourne Student Magazine
2017 - Farrago Magazine Edition 3 2017, University of Melbourne Student Magazine
2016 - Fine Spirit and Pluck: World War One Stories from Banyule, Nillumbik and Whittlesea, Yarra Plenty Regional Library - book cover
2015 - Write Now! Yarra Plenty Regional Library Short Story Competition 2015, Yarra Plenty Regional Library - book cover
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021 Metamorphosis - Red Gallery, Fitzroy North
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 - Self, Off The Kerb Gallery, Collingwood
2021 - Line, in.cube8r Gallery, Fitzroy
2021 - Grayscale, Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy
2020 - COVID LIFE, Off The Kerb Gallery, Collingwood
2020 - Self-Portrait, in.cube8r Gallery, Fitzroy
2020 - From Heart & Mind, The Dax Centre, Parkville
2019 - VCA Art Graduate Exhibition, Student Gallery, Southbank
2019 - Memento Mori II, in.cube8r Gallery, Fitzroy
2019 - Botanical: Spring, Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy
2019 - Portrait, Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy
2019 - Exception, in.cube8r Gallery, Fitzroy
2019 - Small Works Art Prize 2019, Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy
2019 - I cannot continue with this madness: Drawing & Printmaking 3rd Year Show, Victorian College of the Arts Artspace Gallery, Southbank
2018 - Shit’s Tight: Drawing & Printmaking 2nd & 1st Year Show, Victorian College of the Arts Artspace Gallery, Southbank
2017 - Creative Minds, Eltham Library and Community Gallery, Eltham
2016 - Unit 4 Visual Arts Exhibition, Eltham College, Research
2016 - 32nd Warrandyte Art Show, Warrandyte Community Church, Warrandyte