RALEIGH, NC.- On view at CAM Raleigh from July 29 - October 31, 2011 is the second installment of the Emerging Artists Series featuring Rebecca Ward. Born 1984 in Waco, Texas, Rebecca Ward currently lives and works in Brooklyn. CAM Raleigh commissioned Ward to develop a site-specific installation, entitled thickly sliced, to fit uniquely in the Independent Weekly Gallery. CAM Raleigh is a partnership between the community and North Carolina State University’s (NC State) College of Design.

Ward uses materials such as found objects, tape and vinyl adhesives to explore space and create three-dimensional geometrical shapes that become extensions of the built environment. Ward says, “When people walk into the installation, I want them to rethink their surrounding space. A wall is no longer just a wall, and likewise columns, squares and lines are transformed extensions of the existing architecture and have new purpose. All of these things form the framework of our environment and hold limitless possibilities for our potential interaction with space. ” Her work was chosen for its combination of site-specific installation art and pattern element, those being the focus of the concurrent main exhibitions upstairs: Dan Steinhilber: Hold On, Loosely, now through August 22 and Deep Surface: Contemporary Ornament and Patten on view September 24, 2011 – January 2, 2012.

For her CAM Raleigh commission Ward adhered tape to ceilings, walls, and floors, converging with CAM Raleigh’s architecture. Her tape installations are mathematically calculated and thoughtfully planned and at times chaotic and sporadic. Ward’s two-dimensional works explore the illusory and geometrical complexities found by repeating and overlaying simple shapes, patterns, and lines. This perceptual play of color, texture, and light is set into motion by the viewer’s interaction with and experience of the work. “Ideally these patterns are numerically symmetrical or somehow numerically balanced, producing a dialogue between line and space,” remarked Ward.

Ward has exhibited nationally and internationally. Ward completed an installation at Kate Spade in Soho, and held exhibitions at Milk Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey; Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City; Finesilver Gallery, Houston, Texas; Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas; among others.