REBECCA HAWKINS
celebrating human stories of strength & freedom
biography
With an enjoyment of building imaginative concepts, teamed with an ability to create strong imagery, Rebecca creates sculptures and drawings for private collections and campaigns celebrating strength and freedom.
Rebecca trained at Central Saint Martins and City and Guilds of London Art School. Following this she spent a number of years doing apprenticeships with prominent sculptors and engineering firms, learning how to mould, cast and weld. She works in clay, wax, Bronze, bronze resin, copper, and both mild and stainless steel.. Her drawings are rendered in charcoal, often including or drawn on gold leaf.
Public commissions have included The Gurkha, in Folkestone town centre; for which she was shortlisted for the Marsh award for excellence in public sculpture, and The Mother and Child which was commissioned to raise awareness for a stigmatised group of Vietnamese women and children called the Lai Dai Han.
Rebecca has exhibited widely but now spends the majority of her time on bespoke story telling and awareness work for campaigns, charities, and private commissions.
She is currently engaged in exciting projects which will raise awareness and funds for several organisations including Frank Water and Humanity and Inclusion, and awareness campaigns about the fight to end child trafficking and rape in war, over the next couple of years.
In 2017 Rebecca was commissioned to design and create a sculpture as part of an international campaign to highlight the plight of the Lai Dai Han in Vietnam, a group of women and children stigmatised by the result of sexual violence in the Vietnam war. This 2 meter bronze was unveiled in Church House, Westminster in 2019 and is currently in St James's Square, London, speaking on behalf of women and children who are victims of sexual violence in conflict around the globe.
In 2008 she worked with the Esther Benjamins Trust, Nepal, setting up a sculpture workshop to provide therapy through the art of making for victims of child trafficking
In 2016 she was shortlisted for the prestigious PMSA's Marsh award for excellence in public sculpture for her work on the Gurkha Memorial, Folkestone.
Rebecca’s distinctive line of charcoal drawings have developed over the last 12 years. Time spent travelling and working in Nepal and India has given her an unbending respect for the women who live there.
Inspired by their strength, elegance, and humility in the face of social and environmental hardship, she has sought to pay homage to them through her drawings. Drawing from her minds eye, Rebecca's drawings celebrate their strength while capturing their sense of movement and the unmistakable “feel” of what it is to see these inspiringly ethereal paragons in their surroundings.
Gradually over the years she has started to introduce the use of gold leaf, and cultural references in the form of block printing found in their saris, into her drawings. Using a technique she has developed, she draws on gold leaf to build beautiful and unusual drawings which pay homage to the women who evolve from within them.
Rebecca’s emphasis on traditional skills while incorporating beautifully crafted imagery is building a reputation with private and public collectors alike, both in the UK and abroad.
Increasingly through her sculpture, Rebecca is working on projects that highlight humanitarian issues which celebrate the strength of the human spirit, and the importance of freedom to thrive.
Time spent shadowing Circus Kathmandu in Nepal has given her the inspiration for a collection of sculptures that she is working on in-between commissions to highlight and support their anti-trafficking awareness campaigns. Rebecca works in clay, wax, bronze and bronze resin, mild and stainless steel and copper.
Rebecca works to all scale with Charitable organisations, public commissioning bodies, garden designers and private clients alike.
With over 20 years of experience, her versatile approach ensures that her choice of materials and technique are specific to the requirements of each individual client's commission.