About Rebecca

Rebecca grew up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on a ranch at the edge of Grand Teton National Park. Riding horses and skiing is how she spent most of her time.  Rebecca fell in love with nature and developed a love for the arts from her uncle, John Mortensen, who is a practicing life-size sculptor. She graduated from Jackson Hole High School, and shortly after moved to Salt Lake City to continue her education at Westminster College. She started pursuing a nursing degree, and one semester in realized it was not the place for her. Soon after she changed her major to fine arts with an emphasis on drawing and painting. Her senior thesis was developed around depicting the anatomy and aesthetic of the horse, primarily the skull. She mainly works with oil paints and large-scale ink paintings. She graduated in May 2014 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She looks forward to moving into the art community of Jackson as a contemporary artist.

Artist Statement

Riding through a heard of five hundred elk on a daily basis was common for me when I was growing up in Jackson, Wyoming.  I spent my summers on a ranch riding horses throughout Grand Teton National Park.  

My interest in art was inspired by my uncle who is a practicing sculptor of life-size animal bronzes. It wasn’t until I delved into art that I realized my love for the aesthetic of the horse. Recently, I have found myself obsessed with the natural and organic shapes of the skull, and the pure beauty of it. There is something so powerful about animal skulls. The horse skull massive, heavy, and solid. I am now in possession of a variety of animal skulls, all of which inspire my curiosity and investigation.

In recent work, I am moving away from the literality of the skull and working more abstractly. By layering different types of ink I work to build depth throughout my pieces. I find architectural lines to be a nice compliment to the organic shapes found in skulls, while the ink captures the likeness of the skulls. 

My work falls within the genre of contemporary western art. I tend to use a natural palette and stick to a monochromatic color scheme, but I play with form and composition in nontraditional ways. I have found an original style that I look forward to continuing and expanding. I see my artwork as an extension of the natural world of horses, which sustain and inform my life.