Rebecca Rose facts for kids

Rebecca “Rose” Michelle Downin (born September 18, 1980) is an American artist who creates sculptures. She is especially known for her unique art jewelry.

Rebecca was born Rebecca Downin. She uses "Rose" as a special name to honor her mother, Michelle, who loved growing roses in their hometown of Mesa, Arizona.

Rebecca started sculpting when she was 19 years old. She made her first "Sculpturing" in 1999. She often designs, builds, carves, and casts her own art in her home studio. Sometimes, she works with assistants in New York and Los Angeles to help with parts of the process, like casting pieces in silver or bronze.

She earned a BFA degree in 2001 from Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff, Arizona, where she attended college on a full art scholarship. Today, Rose lives and works in both Los Angeles, California, and Orlando, Florida.

Early Life and Art Journey

Rebecca Rose grew up in Mesa, Arizona. Her family sometimes found her art and ideas a bit hard to understand. One of her big art projects, a large display called "The Unabridged Paper Doll Diner" (2001), even showed some of the challenges her family faced. She realized then how powerful her art could be.

In 1998, when she was 17, Rose studied printmaking, metal smithing, and fine arts at Northern Arizona University. She felt this was one of the best experiences of her life. During her studies, a professor gave her a block of wax and told her to make a ring. With no other rules, Rebecca imagined that a ring could be "any size, any shape, and have any statement."

At NAU, she saw that making large sculptures and creating small cast jewelry were very similar. The main difference was that sculptures are usually big and stay in one place, while jewelry is smaller and can be worn. She received a full scholarship to finish her art degree. From 1999 to 2001, she also helped supervise the Jewelry/Metalsmithing Department at NAU.

Art for Good: Charity Work

Rebecca Rose is also known for her work with charities. She often gives her original artworks to auctions that raise money for good causes. These include charities that help people with HIV/AIDS, support LGBT rights, raise awareness for breast cancer, and assist children. Rose sometimes attends these charity events in person to help encourage higher bids for her art.

Art and Ideas: Political Views

Rose believes that many of her artworks are inspired by current events and social issues. She sees her art as a way to share her thoughts or tell a story about what's happening in the world.

For example, her piece called “Puppeteering” (2012) shows her thoughts on the Occupy Movements from 2011. This sculpture features three figures of different ages and genders. They represent many people who felt that the government was "puppeteering" or controlling their future. The sculpture also includes a soldier riding on a big baby, which stands for our future. This artwork was shown at "The Master Blasters of Sculpture IV" show in Los Angeles.

Another piece, “Inspiring” (2011), is inspired by the graffiti and street art movement. It shows spray paint nozzles mixed with paint brushes. This symbolizes the start of the street art movement. The artwork includes symbols for famous street artists like Banksy (a rat), Mr. Brainwash (a brain), and Shepard Fairey (fairy wings). A skateboard and ribbons in the piece celebrate how street art became a respected form of fine art.

Using Found Objects in Art

Rose often uses "found objects" in her art. These are random items she collects in her studio, like old toys. She uses these items to create detailed rings. Before she casts a piece in metal, she first makes a wax model using these found objects.

Large Sculptures and Installations

In 2001, for her final project at Northern Arizona University, Rebecca built a huge, interactive art piece. It was a 30-foot long, 15-foot wide, and 8-foot tall installation called "The Unabridged Paper Doll Diner." After making such large sculptures, she realized that creating big pieces helped her understand how to make her tiny rings so detailed.

Sculpturings: Tiny Art for Your Finger

Rebecca Rose is very famous for her sculptured jewelry, which she calls "Sculpturings." People describe them as "tiny detailed sculptures that fit on your finger." Her collections of these small sculptures often show current world events or social issues in a miniature form, attached to a ring. Each piece has a message or idea related to the word "ring."

Her Sculpturings are made from valuable metals like gold, silver, and bronze. She uses a method called lost wax casting. Each ring is displayed inside a hand-blown glass dome and sits on a special stand, making it look like it's floating. A magnifying glass comes with each piece, so viewers can see all the tiny details up close. Rose calls these pieces "functional mobile sculpture" because they are art you can wear.

She sculpts on a small scale so that people can wear her art and take it with them. Rose officially defines her Sculpturings as: "an artistic collection of small sculpture on a mobile scale for fingers, with the intent to combine current social issues artistically represented in a physical sculptural form with language that contains the word or suffix 'ring'." The name "Sculpturings" is a registered trademark since 2012.

Awards and Recognition

In 2011, Rebecca Rose was chosen as one of four finalists in a national art competition. She later showed her work at the Phoenix Gallery in New York City. In 2013, she received a scholarship from the Society of North American Goldsmiths and Crafthaus. There, she taught other artists how to show their work to the public.

In December 2012, her art was featured in an exhibit called "Cream" at Mother Falcon Gallery. This show highlighted "the best of Orlando artists." Rose's work has been bought by people all over the United States, Canada, Sweden, Italy, Belgium, and England. Her bronze and sterling silver Sculpturings are also part of the collections at The Andy Warhol Museum and owned by Andrew Lincoln, an actor from the TV show The Walking Dead. Her Sculpturings have been shown in many galleries in Los Angeles and at Julie's Artisan Gallery in New York.

Collecting Art

Rose loves collecting art herself. Her collection includes works by artists like Shepard Fairey and Audrey Kawasaki. She says that being an art collector helps her with her own art. It makes her want to include good records with each of her pieces, so it's easy to know where her art came from. She often goes to special art events and fairs, such as the LA Art Show and Art Basel Miami Beach.

Artistic Inspirations

Rose often mentions Sam Wagstaff as someone who inspired her silver artwork. She admires how he helped make photography a respected art form. She was also influenced by his dream of doing the same for silver sculpture.

Andy Warhol is another artist who greatly influenced Rose. He was known for collecting unique silver items, especially silver jewelry. Rose even quotes him on her website: "It would be very glamorous to be reincarnated as a big ring."

Rose also says that the movie Johnny Tremain (Film), which she watched as a child, was a big influence. In a 2012 interview, she described how she relates to the main character, Johnny Tremain. He is a silversmith apprentice who has a strong spirit and fights for freedom. She remembers a scene where he burns his hand on hot silver, and that image stayed with her.

Face Painting Art

Rebecca Rose is also known for her body and face paintings. Her face paintings have been featured in many films and print materials from The Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm.