Rebecca Last
About The Artist
Rebecca Last studied visual art, design and art history in Toronto, Italy and Vancouver earning a MA from University of Toronto and a BFA from York University. Since then she has focused on her art and design consulting work at her Toronto and Northumberland studios.
She was awarded a fellowship from The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and has worked as Artist in Residence at Banff Center for the Arts and at Hambidge Arts Center, Georgia, USA. She was one of two artists awarded funding by the Ministry of Culture to live as Artist in Residence at Nanjing N. University in China. There she painted and gave a series of themed lectures focusing on Western painting. As an art educator for over two decades at Sheridan College and has taught studio courses and lectured in Italy.
Rebecca Last’s studio, located on the edge of Rice Lake an ancient native spiritual site, is the place of her ongoing multi year study of the light and energy patterns that travel eastward across the lake. She exhibits regularly and works from her Toronto and Northumberland studios.
Her approach to painting combines a form of semi-automatism grounded in place, without photo reference but developed through memory and observation.
Rebecca Last has been widely exhibited; her most recent solo exhibition was at Edward Day Gallery in Toronto. Other shows include Gallery Moos Contemporary Programme’s group shows and “Road Show” in Montreal and was shown in “The Great Canadian Painting Exhibition” at the Arts and Letters Club in 2011, Toronto. In 2008 The Art Gallery of Northumberland mounted a solo exhibition of her paintings in the Paul Kane and Main Galleries called “Across the Lake: Studies in Light & Energy” in 2008. Other solo exhibitions include the Ontario Architects Association in 1995, First Canadian Place Gallery.
Last’s work has been featured on CBC and numerous publications including Canadian House & Home, Toronto Life, Style at Home, The Toronto Star, NOW, Southern Living, US and The Globe & Mail.
“The painter’s evolution from earlier, more literal representations, to fierce turbulent chaotic swings of nature offer viewers a rare portrait of a land whose every shift in mood and temperament are captured with the deft handling of the brush….By progressing towards the union of the visible natural world and the less visible cosmological plane, the artist confidently fuses grounded beauty of lake, sky and light while suspending our imaginary belief in all-encompassing ether that, as the world below, deserves our utmost awe and respect. ” Edge of Chaos, The Paintings of Rebecca Last, by Kelly McCray
Rebecca Last
“Frenetic Surroundings”
Year: 2020
Medium: mixed media on archival paper
Size: 24 x 30 in.
Condition: Excellent
Price: On Request
Rebecca Last
“Pandemic Moon”
Year: 2020
Medium: mixed media on archival paper
Size: 24 x 30 in.
Condition: Excellent
Price: On Request
Rebecca Last
“Shifting Ground”
Year: 2020
Medium: mixed media on archival paper
Size: 24 x 30 in.
Condition: Excellent
Price: On Request
Rebecca Last
“Monochrome”
Year: 2018
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 48 x 60 in., 121.9 x 152.4 cm.
Price: On request
Rebecca Last
“Untouchables”
Year: 2018
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: Triptych - 72 x 144 in., 183 x 366 cm.
Price: On Request
Rebecca Last
“Return of Venus”
Year: 2018
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Size: 48 x 48 x 1 13/16 in. deep
Price: On Request
Rebecca Last
“Studies in Light & Energy no 65”
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Year: 2018
Size: 48 x 48 in.
Description: This rendering is a semi-automatic response to the experience of exposure to environmental power and the often resulting awe which reminds us of our complex interconnectedness with the natural world. Here a passing moment of light is witnessed through clouds over the lake.
Side edges of the canvas are painted a neutral white. Ready to hang.
Price: On Request
Rebecca Last
“Studies in Light & Energy no 135”
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Year: 2018
Size: 48 x 72 X 1 3/4 in.
Description: Overlapping memories and working with the materials are key to my creative process. I don’t work from photos but rely on visual observations and memory as I let the properties of the paint and other materials lead my mark making.
Side edges of the canvas are painted a neutral white. Ready to hang.
Price: On Request
Rebecca Last
“At Cadmium Lake”
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Year 2017
Size: 30 x 36 in.
Description: This is the sister painting to "Cadmium Lake" which is part of the Waterkeeper Art Collection.
Cadmium Lake is an imaginary place - a semi-automatic response to the experience of exposure to environmental power and the often resulting awe which reminds us of our complex interconnectedness with the natural world.
Side edges of this painting on canvas are painted a neutral deep blue. Ready to hang.
Price: On Request
Rebecca Last
“Studies in Light & Energy no 128”
Medium: diptych, acrylic on wood
Year 2017
Size: 12 x 24 in.
Description: This painting in acrylic is a diptych on wood panels that are attached to form one piece.
The wood edges are painted in a neutral deep blue and the painting is ready to hang.
Price: On Request
Rebecca Last
“Studies in Light & Energy no 132”
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Year 2017
Size: 60 X 48 in.
Description: This vertical format work is a personal and poetic response in paint to what began as a series on memories of light coming and going, often filtered through cloud, rain and light across the lake.
Side edges of the canvas are painted a neutral white. Ready to hang.
Price: On Request
Rebecca Last
“Falling Water”
Year: 2016
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 72 x 48 in., 121.9 x 183 cm.
Price: On Request
Rebecca Last
“Studies in Light & Energy no 129”
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Year 2016
Size: 48 x 48 in.
Description: This painting evolved over several months and as each layer left a memory and every new layer added more meaning to this building metaphor and a sense of orange/red light seeping through from the distance into our view.
Side edges of the canvas are painted a neutral white. Ready to hang.
Price: On Request
Rebecca Last
“Away from Here”
Date: 2016
Size: 48 x 96 in.
Medium: diptych acrylic on canvas
Price: On Request