Rebecca Asquith

Rebecca Asquith is a designer and maker of things from Taranaki. With 25 year’s experience in the film industry, starting out as a model maker in 1999 on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, to a Set Designer and now an Assistant Art Director in the NZ film and television industry.

Rebecca has also been designing and making furniture and lighting products over the last 14 or so years under the brand Designtree. Alongside her creative commercial enterprises Rebecca creates conceptual sculptural works combining her decades of experience building intricate models and finely crafted furniture. Her sculptural works delve into narratives that explore her concern for issues around the environment and sustainability.

STATEMENT:
For her work in PlatFORM 24, Rebecca has revisited a material (leather) and process (boiling it) that she worked with in a CNZ funded project back in 2012.

“I was fortunate enough to get funded by CNZ some time ago to develop a body of furniture works. In this project I explored boiling leather and it absolutely fascinated me. To learn about a new material that I had never really worked with - leather - and play with a process that is not commonly used with this material - submerge it in boiling water - was an eye opening, mind bending/stretching, unexpected journey that a really enjoyed.”

“Through this boiling leather process I learnt a lot, including letting go of my desire to control a process. I had to let the leather form its own landscape. I could hold parts of it to a shape, but what I did not hold down tight, the leather had a mind of its own as to where it would lay to rest.”

“I knew I wanted to revisit this material and process again so when I was asked if I wanted to be part of PlatFORM it was an obvious choice to roll out some leather and start experimenting with different forms and patterns”