2021 Senior Exhibition Artists

Self Portrait, 2020, digital illustration, 14 X 10.5 inch canvas

Rebecca Hope

Art + Design: Illustration

About Rebecca Hope

Rebecca Hope is an illustrator with interests in graphic design and creative writing. Her illustration style conveys an exploration of the tangible and abstract. Outside of graduating from the University of Massachusetts: Dartmouth with a BFA in Illustration, Rebecca seeks out community involvement and outreach. In 2021, Rebecca was featured in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and additionally, an artist spotlight in Worcester Magazine. She will pursue her passion in editorial illustration post graduation.

Statement

My collection of works is a personal interpretation of the technology age we find ourselves consumed in. Transitioning from an in-person education in 2020 to working as a gas attendant in my hometown, managing studio coursework via Zoom, and staying connected to my community is what pushed me to find this style of illustration. I had to find a way to encapsulate all of the emotions I was feeling with the world at once. The interconnectivity of digital media and peoples is at an all-time high, leaving us tied together but farther apart than ever.

I am an observational artist. I am a plotter, schemer, thinker, and dreamer. I am always watching and internalizing, taking it all in. When it comes down to executing my illustrations, they begin with paper and pencil every time. I think dimensionally, in the 3D sense, considering how the composition will fill up space. The thing is, it’s not only about filling the space. The atmosphere itself within an illustration should have depth, going backwards and forwards in time. I want my illustrations to have motion. The drawings themselves should feel as if it is another world you could step into or one that could leap out at you.