Rebecca Baumann

Rebecca Baumann (b. 1983, Perth) has an art practice that spans a range of media including installation, kinetic sculpture and performance. She recently spent two months in Dunedin as part of the Gallery’s Visiting Artist Programme. Artist residencies have played an important role within Baumann’s practice – creating opportunities where travel, focused research, and access to new materials and technologies have become influential factors in her creative process. Baumann’s time spent on residency in India and Berlin have seen the development of some of her most well-known works including Improvised Smoke Device (2010-ongoing) and Automated Colour Field (2011).  

Baumann’s installations explore both the formal and conceptual relationships between colour, materials and space – an exploration that is evident in Untitled (exploded view). Here, colour is used as both the subject and the object, where large vertical planes of colour are stretched through the gallery space creating an elongated colour spectrum. Allowing her materials to act as performers, Untitled (exploded view) highlights Baumann’s interest in colour theory, perception and the emotive potential of colour. Baumann uses this new installation to explore the sculptural potential of ephemeral and transient materials, opening up the gallery space to flood her installation with natural light. This installation invites viewers to move through the carefully orchestrated space, allowing colour and light to change and shift as they move through the immersive experience.  

A Dunedin Public Art Gallery Visiting Artist Project supported by Creative New Zealand and Project Partner - Dunedin School of Art