REBECCA JEWELL

Rebecca Jewell is a print-maker and collage artist. Her work is a cross-cultural examination of the human exploitation and veneration of birds. Growing up with zoologist parents, Jewell accompanied her father on field trips, and visited her mother in the osteology room at the Natural History Museum - both parents instilling a love of nature, wildlife and conservation. A year spent living in Papua new Guinea and over twenty years working with the Oceania collection in the British Museum have influenced her work – examining the significance and symbolism of birds and feathers in human cultures and beliefs. 

Jewell has a PhD from the Royal College of Art (2004) and is visiting artist in residence in the Oceanic Department of the British Museum. She has exhibited widely both in the UK and internationally. Her work has been purchased by many National Collections including the Natural History Museum and the National Maritime Museum, as well as by many private collectors around the world. In 2020 the British Museum acquired 40 of Jewell’s artworks, spanning twenty years of work inspired by the Oceania collections.

Jewell is a faculty member at the Royal Drawing School, and co-founder of Drawn from Nature running art classes in natural history drawing.

Jonathan Franzen, author and writer, wrote of her work:

‘We are in an age when birdlife is dwindling….but Jewell’s work points toward a happier outcome, a reconnection with the primal wonder of birds, a recognition of how poor our world would be without the feathered Other.’

About the feathers:

All the feathers used in Jewell’s works are ethically sourced and have been pre-cleaned and treated.