Rebecca Youssef

Rebecca Youssef (b. 1973) is a Los Angeles-based mixed media artist who was raised on the north shore of O’ahu, Hawaii. Galvanized by the sustainability movement to protect our planet, her work gives new life to discarded paper, boxes and bags by immortalizing them in art, thus honoring their journey from tree to canvas. Rebecca employs a broad range of sustainable practices and natural materials inspired by her love of cultivating native trees.

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Rebecca received her BFA from the University of Arizona in Tucson and then moved to Los Angeles to pursue her MA in Art Education at Loyola Marymount University. Following graduate school, Rebecca taught art at various schools across Los Angeles. Currently, she is an artist-in-residence at the 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica, California.

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"For as long as I can remember, I’ve had my hands in either dirt or paint. My love of process and undervalued materials and the cultivation of trees from seed is what has sustained and given purpose to my work. My creative path converges with the urgency of the sustainability movement, as I find my artistic voice at the intersection of art and environmental advocacy.

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Whether it’s painting on paper I made by hand or on discarded paper grocery bags, I tell a story through purposeful materials to stimulate reflection on our reciprocity with nature.

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In a deliberate contrast, I meld homemade inks and papers with conventional, commercially made paints and adhesives, symbolizing the dissonance between humanity and the environment. Currently I am focused on a series of deconstructed landscapes, assembled from salvaged cardboard. They’re abstract portrayals of the urban landscape which have been altered irreversibly by the pervasive footprint of human activity.

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Beyond the studio, you’ll find me with dusty boots and soil-stained hands, dedicated to the restoration of native trees within the urban expanse of Los Angeles."