Rebecca Tillett

I graduated high school in 2001 and from there achieved my associate’s degree in graphic design/digital graphics in 2003 from a local community college. Immediately afterward I began my bachelor of arts degree at New Mexico State University, but stopped after one year for many reasons.

Since experimenting with film photography as a teenager and then transitioning to digital in college, I find that I’ve consistently searched for my place in the art world. I immediately gravitated toward the tools of Photoshop to supplement my digital photography much like a darkroom does for film photography so as to have the best of both worlds. Only recently have I begun to further explore the benefits of Photoshop by taking my work to illusory states. I’ve slowly learned to more thoroughly enjoy the post-production involved in my final pieces than the taking of the photos themselves.

In a field dominated by middle-aged males I’ve always felt obviously out of place but strangely comfortable at the same time. I began expressing my aesthetic love for the nude female body sometime during the dirty drugged-induced emaciated self-loathing grunge era and I haven’t looked back since. I’ve always felt that there’s something to be said for pure sensation and unfiltered human emotion—because to me, even pain can be quite a beautiful thing. This day in age (and in this country), it seems we’re reared to fear nudity, but I’ve never been quite prepared to deny myself of something as insanely beautiful as the unclothed human form. It’s no secret that I’ve rejected every single stigma attached to nudity, and I’m undoubtedly proud of myself for that.

I tend to attribute the combination of my own life experiences and the imagery around me on a daily basis to my inspiration. My work can begin as a tiny seed of an idea in my mind and end as an entirely different being sometimes not at all related to its original beginnings. In fact, my final work rarely resembles the original idea. Witnessing the evolution of these independent creatures also provides a form of unique inspiration. Translating the imagery in my head to something concrete and doing so in a visually aesthetic manner is my primary goal. My only hope is to continue growing as an artist and a human being so that I may continue creating.