About/CV

 

Rebecca Howard is an artist, academic and educator, currently based in Sheffield and Derby (Derby Scholar, University of Derby). Her creative practice engages with photography, installation, model-making and sculpture to investigate the ways in which photographs, as both images and material objects, shape perceptions of place and space. Her doctoral research Manifold (Manchester School of Art, 2016-2021, AHRC funded) explores photography in an expanding field, drawing from theories of folding and the baroque, to interrogate the spatial and dimensional properties of the photographic paper-print and its capacity to generate form, reconfigure interior space, and draw critical attention to seemingly 'banal' architecture.

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Rebecca is part of an artist/research group called Proximity Collective and co-founder of NMRG (New Materialist Reading Group) at University of Derby with Dr. Victoria Sharples. For more information, please visit the contact page. 

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Education

 

PhD by practice, Manchester School of Art, UK, 2016-2021 (AHRC funded, 2018-2021) 

 

MA Photography, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK (Distinction), 2011-2013

 

BA Graphic Arts and Design, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK (First Class), 2008-2011

 

 

 

Selected Group Exhibitions & Installations

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An Elastic Continuum, S1 Artspace, Sheffield, UK, 2023

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We are Nothing Without Stories, Format Festival, Derby, UK, 2023

 

There-Then-Here-Now, Bankley Gallery, Manchester, 2022

 

All the Small Things, Artcore, Derby, UK, 2021 

 

​Proximity at Abingdon Street Market, Blackpool, UK, 2021

 

Proximity at Paradise Works, Salford, UK, 2019 

 

On the Image, Manchester School of Art, UK, 2019

 

Nothing Abandoned, Paradise Works, Salford, UK, 2017

 

Visualising the Home, (Carlisle Photo Festival), Vallum Gallery, Carlisle, UK, 2017

 

What Now!?, Manchester School of Art, UK, 2013

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The World According to Mass, Bench Gallery, Manchester, UK, 2012

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Selected Solo Exhibitions & Installations 

 

Mirror-like Marble, Derby Cathedral, Derby, 2022 

 

Unit 28-30, Stretford Mall, Manchester, UK, 2021

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When We Build, Let Us Think That We Build Forever, Holden Gallery foyer, Manchester, UK, 2019 

 

Meta, Holden Gallery (video projection room), Manchester, UK, 2019 

 

Repeat Pattern, Manchester School of Art UK, 2016

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Curation

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An Elastic Continuum, S1 Artspace, Sheffield, UK, 2023 (co-curated with Dr. Victoria Sharples)

 

 

Residencies

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Proximity writing retreat, Lymm, UK, 2023

 

Proximity at Bloc projects, Sheffield, UK, 2023

 

Proximity at Rogue Studios, Manchester, UK, 2022

 

PAHC (Post-graduate Arts and Humanities Centre) Researcher in Residence Instagram Takeover, 2021

 

Paradise Works, Salford, UK, 2019 

 

British School at Rome, Italy, 2019 

 

Islington Mill, Salford, UK, 2019 

 

Venture Arts, Manchester, UK, 2019

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Awards/Funding 

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University of Derby's Early Career Researchers Development Fund, 2023

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NWCDTP Targeted Funding, 2023

 

University of Derby's Early Career Researchers Development Fund, 2022

 

NWCDTP Student Initiative Fund, 2021

 

AHRC doctoral research funding 2018-2021

 

Plaque Prize, Manchester School of Art, 2019

 

NWCDTP Collaborative Skills Development Scheme, 2019

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Workshops

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Dream Gallery (Model Making) with Proximity Collective, 2020

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Artists Talks 

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Exploring relations between photography, architecture and performance (with Dr. Victoria Sharples and Valeria Carnevale), University of Derby, 2022

 

Post-PhD with Proximity Collective (as part of the NWCDTP PhD Careers Week) online, 2021

 

Nothing Abandoned, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, 2017

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Visiting Lectures

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Village Green photography lecture series, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2021

 

Model Making, MA Media, Manchester School of Art, UK, 2021  

 

BA Fine Art, Blackpool School of Arts (Blackpool and The Fylde College) UK, 2021

 

Photo/Sculpture/Installation with MA Photography students, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, 2019

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Conferences & Symposia

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GLAD symposium 2023: Gathering Ourselves, 2023 (co-participant with Proximity Collective)

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An Elastic Continuum, S1 Artspace, Sheffield, UK, 2023

 

On Not Knowing: How Artists Teach, Glasgow School of Art, UK, 2023 (co-participant with Proximity Collective)

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What Photography Can Be, Format23, QUAD, Derby UK, 2023

 

​Arts in Society History/Histories: From the Limits of Representation to the Boundaries of Narrative, July 2022 (online) 

 

iJade 2021: Hybrid Spaces:Re-imagining pedagogy, practice and research, 2021 (co-participant with Proximity Collective, online) 

 

​The Image: Techno-storytelling: Past, Present, Future, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, 2019

 

Digital Humanities, Human Technologies (NWCDTP), Salford University, UK, 2018

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Publications

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Manifold: a practice-based enquiry into the spatial and dimensional properties of the photographic print, 2021

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Thinking and Making Through Folds, Comparative Media Arts Journal, 2021

https://www.sfu.ca/cmajournal/issues/issue-nine--relations/Rebecca-Howard.html

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Roles

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Derby Scholar/Lecturer BA Photography (Hons), University of Derby, 2022-

 

Early Career Academic (Creative Industries), University of Derby, UK, 2021-2022

 

Freelance Photographer (Food, product, architecture, weddings, theatre, and portraits) 2010-  

 

Gallery Interpreter, The Lowry, Salford, UK, 2016-2020

 

Gallery Assistant, The Lowry, Salford, UK, 2008-2016 

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