The Inner Light

Hastings artist Rebecca Youssefi uses meditation, performance and oil paint to explore universal themes

WITH its bright colours, acrobatic subject and personal origins, Rebecca Youssefi’s painting The Day sums up what has inspired the Hastings artist and what may come in the future. Originally based on a photograph of Rebecca performing aerial acrobatics – a passion she discovered a few years ago, continuing an early love of dance – its golden colour nods towards her current fascination with the sun. And its materials – combining oils and spray paint with metal leaf work – is akin to the methods she followed for six years making her 22-strong series Major Arcana.

Sussex Life first met Rebecca in St Leonards, where she was an assistant to fellow artist Alan Rankle. Now she has her own studio in Hastings. She is one of the featured artists in Alan’s curated show Axis: London Milano 2017 at the new project space Tracce di Vapore at Milan’s Fabbrica Del Vapore, which finishes on Friday 19 January. The 31-year-old is set to return to the same space later this year with her own solo show, combining the 22 Major Arcana paintings with Origin – a performance work created Gabrielle Lewry which she premiered at Source Park, Hastings’ subterranean skate park in September, mixing live sound by Gabrielle with her own aerial acrobatic performance.