Miami Guest Host: Rebecca White
“Art is most meaningful when it has the capacity to transmit something to you…”
Learn more about Miami-based Designer and Artist, Rebecca White, who is also hosting our Miami launch event on 5/1!
Q: Tell us a little about yourself — where are you from, where did you go to school, what do you do, and how did you first discover a love for art?
I grew up on a farm outside of Memphis, Tennessee and spent a great deal of my childhood outdoors, in nature, with animals and plants. I had a bit of a knack for drawing as a child but I didn’t really pursue or develop it much; mostly doodles in the margin of my school books and some simple stuff in elementary school art class. My appreciation for art developed fairly young, because my grandmother would invite us for special outings with her—a trip to an art museum in Memphis, followed by lunch at a favorite restaurant. Initially, I was probably more motivated by the lunch than the artwork, but it was because of her and the regular visits to the galleries that I learned how to enjoy art and feel very comfortable in cultural spaces.
Q: Can you walk us through your creative process and talk about what usually inspires your work, both in design and in art?
With design work, I’m almost always creating something for a client, and it requires me to take a deep dive into the client’s business, product, or service and understand who they are / what they do from the inside out. I’ve developed a discovery process that helps me uncover synergies for brands and digital products, and it’s all about leveraging the client’s knowledge or expertise and empowering them. Many of my clients are organizations that are committed to social impact, so I’m constantly awed by the brave, meaningful work they do to create change in our communities.
With my visual art practice, it’s much more personal. Oftentimes, art-making is a tool I use for emotional regulation—a way of processing personal and public events, and making a visual record of what I’m feeling instead of holding it inside my body. It’s not uncommon for me to get agitated by something that’s happening out there in the world, and feel a physical need to create something in response to it. What’s interesting is that I’m finding that my work also makes space for other people to process their own experiences and feelings.
Q: Who or what most influences and inspires you? Are there any teachers or mentors who have most shaped you/your work?
I’m mostly self-taught as an artist and a designer, in terms of the discipline of literally making logos or websites or paintings or drawings. Of course I read a lot of books, attend lots of conferences, and have been lucky to collaborate with some brilliant creative leaders and peers. So I’d say the people who really impact my work are those who influence my thinking and provoke conceptual growth. When I see another human being fully, unapologetically living life on their own terms and sharing love and truth however they can, that’s hugely inspiring and encouraging to me.
Q: What do you love most about creating and/or experiencing art?
I think art is most meaningful when it has the capacity to transmit something to you, the viewer. When you look at the work, and see or feel or know something you didn’t grasp before, and you walk away with a new thought that you can take on your journey. For me, the process of making art is about this too—there’s a kind of opening myself up and letting the transmission pass through my heart, my eyes, my hands, and be integrated into a physical object. Then that object lives out there in the world, it has a life of its own apart from me, and it telegraphs things to people who are listening. Hopefully it offers them some space to reflect and process, and ask questions of their own.
Q: What are you most excited about in regard to guest hosting the Women of Culture event at PAMM on 5/1?
The PAMM is one of my absolute favorite art spaces in Miami, and I was lucky enough to go to the opening of the Marisol and Warhol Take New York exhibit. I always get more out of a show on the 2nd or 3rd visit, so I’m looking forward to soaking it all up again. But the biggest thing is—it’s been a really long two years for those of us who live for arts and culture! This is a beautiful time to build new relationships in our creative community, so I’m thrilled to be facilitating connections around a shared obsession with art.