about

^{Life Saving, a series of gestures during a residency located at Three Cliff's Bay in The Gower, South Wales, 2014}

Annie Rapstoff is an interdisciplinary artist based in Oxfordshire in The United Kingdom.  She is interested in the interrelationship between earth/land and humanity, often in dialogue with other species. Over recent years she has explored kinship with water and since the pandemic has become entwined with birds. Most recently her focus has shifted towards rocks and geological strata, in particular erosion, crevices, fissures and “the unseen” in relation to Red Sandstone. Her research makes connections and relationships to place, through the act of “foraging” and deep listening. Her most recent project entitled The Alchemy of Rock, has developed through an intuitive knowing of forms along the Pembrokeshire coastline. Through regular walks, stillness, and creating bonds with the area, she has created an archive of work which includes, drawings, paintings, textiles and text. 

Annie uses strategies of sensing, thinking, embodiment, listening and watching. Her process includes research, an exploration of language and phenomenological approaches. Her work is underpinned by heart felt grief for the impact we as humans have on our environment and a strong belief in connection with all kith and kin species.  

Her work can take the form of instructions, performance for the camera and in situ, gestures, interventions, video and text. Past work has been participatory, collaborative and often process based or ephemeral. More recently an ongoing pain condition has led to exploring new avenues of practice which are less taxing on her body, including painting, printmaking, stitch and embroidery.   

Annie's work can been seen in galleries, at conferences, live art events and in public spaces. She has been known to inhabit masks fabricated into bird extensions, and walk the Old Red Sandstone places of Pembrokeshire, using actions such as mark making, rubbing and scarifying. These small works explore surface, decay and imperfection in layers, particularly cracks in pavements, continuing an ongoing concern around fragile surfaces and hidden depths.

She has developed workshops with children and adults, has curated and developed live art events and is particularly interested in working in collaboration with other artists and across disciplines, past collaborations can be seen here.

Valuable words: Allowing for uncertainty, play, meandering through words and ideas, listening to what may be beneath the surface, ecologies of experience in relationship with animals, plants, other objects and the land.