Skip to main content
Writing (MA)

Rita Chamberlain

Pale pink pastel painting divided into four sections mapping out the sounds of words as a visually landscape.

Rita Chamberlain is an artist and writer. She has an interest in ideas surrounding, impression, the fragility of a moment and the elusive nature of experience. Writing, more specifically creative 'non-fiction', acts as a device to convey these thoughts that often feature alongside works of abstraction.

Before studying at the Royal College of Art, Rita graduated with a First Class Hons. BA in Painting from UAL, Wimbledon College of Art. She was nominated for the Freelands Award 2021 and exhibited in shows such as GIFC /Velvet Ropes show 2019: House of Vans, London. When studying at Wimbledon College of Art, she began to organically merge the boundaries between literature and painting whereby both practises started to inform and influence the other.

As a student at the Royal College of Art, Rita co-wrote and hosted Silken Reference: Blued – a collective formed with students on the Writing programme. The collective produced a zine whereby each participant created short prose/poetry on a selected theme.


Section of an abstract screen print in blue.

I am interested in the ephemeral nature of life and how that can be reflected and presented in various art forms such as writing, painting and so on. Alongside this notion I focus on abstraction, how one is able to take parts of larger ideas and focus on the importance or meaning of those subjects in bite sized pieces.  

The potential to capture the essence of human experiences without depicting wholly identifiable things. My studio work functions in unison with a forming philosophy that I have built upon the ideologies of previous artists and thinkers. In particular, literature feeds into my initial thoughts and ideas.

Abstraction and abstract art do not necessarily offer answers, but a door ajar to a world unseen. One uses mark-making, signs and language to peer through the half-open door. But thereafter, it is up to the viewer. The artwork acts as a guiding minister, as it provides a glimpse into a reality that might be different.

Writing from my FMP entitled In Flux.
Writing from my FMP entitled In Flux.
Writing from my FMP entitled In Flux.

FMP Synopsis

I explore how the artworks of Ana Mendieta allow for a widened comprehension of human experience and emotion. 

Through an imagined encounter with the artwork, Grass Breathing, 1974 the first-person narrative takes us on a journey of self-discovery, on what it means to have a mind and body. As the work of Mendieta seeps into the story, so too do the thoughts of those who have pondered before me. The likes of Susan Sontag, The Aesthetics of Silence, Maggie Nelson on violent art or Anne Carson on the use of colour. 

By investigating the life and work of Ana Mendieta, one can begin to draw upon the parallels of our own humanly lives in relation to the natural world around us. The interconnectedness of all things becomes apparent. 

Ana Mendieta's life ended in tragedy, and respectfully I would like to consider this violent happening. However, I do not wish to repeat words spoken on the matter. Her work at times reflects the hardships Mendieta undertook. It is the emotional intensity of her work that elevates its level of effectiveness. It is not at the hands of her sad passing but as a result of her vibrant and timeless voice.

I search for authenticity in experience by comparison of alternative languages, be that silence, words, violence or vanishing. All types of counter language appear in Mendieta’s work.


Medium:

Writing

Size:

A4
Word document of an interview with a chef.
Word document of an interview with a chef.
Word document of an interview with a chef.

Medium:

Word Document

Size:

A4
Zine Cover
Zine
Zine
Zine
The zine launch night set up.

Medium:

Zine
Previous StudentNext Student

Social

About

Royal College of Art

Registered Office: Royal College of Art,
Kensington Gore, South Kensington,
London SW7 2EU