Rebecca E. Chamberlain has cut herself a wide path. Whether designing the furniture and exterior for PUSH jewelry in lower Manhattan, clothing for Uniqlo and Old Navy, exhibiting her sculptures in New York and across the United States, or lending her voice to musical projects from rock to ambient performance ensembles, Chamberlain brings a freshness to each project, stemming from her many interests.
Rebecca started her first clothing line, IOTA, while still an undergraduate at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her fascination with high concept clothing led her to front several other lines, including Elbridge, a women's clothing line sold at department stores such as Bendel's in Manhattan, a second and similar Canadian backed line; Wares and more recently a resort line for Mella. Her travels during a tenure as men's wear designer for Old Navy influenced her ongoing sculptural project, broadly entitled Kawii/ Tete a Tete. The Kawii sculptures - based on collected ephemera and Victorian diorama - have been shown since 1999 at exhibitions in Santa Fe, NM, Philadelphia and New York. Through the Kawaii series, Chamberlain received a commission to direct the redesign of Push jewelry in lower Manhattan alongside the store's owners; furniture designer, Frank Ford and jewelry designer, Karen Karch., expanding her sculptural work to furniture and interior design. Upon completion of the PUSH project Chamberlain turned to drawing and painting again. This new work has been included in group shows at 31 Grand, Champion, Sarah Bowen and Agenzia04, a gallery that now represents her in Bologna, Italy.
In addition to her visual projects, Chamberlain also performed as lead singer for Research (Electra Records) and for the installation art/performance/musical trio, Infant Reader (Beggar's Banquet Sulfur Records label). From 1996 to 2001, Infant Reader worked extensively in New York and Philadelphia, both independently and as part of the Fringe Festival and the Art Exchange with help from Philip Glass' label, Point Records. In addition to continuing to record with Infant Reader, Chamberlain now lends her voice and persona to Maxi Geil! & PlayColt, an art world-based rock/performance group. The band performed live in Titus 1 at MoMA following the premier of Nausea II (the feature length video starring Chamberlain and her husband, writer and director, Guy Richards Smit) and more recently as part of PERFORMA05 at the Bowery Ballroom. The band's upcoming full length album will be released in July 2007 under the newly launched British label FRED Music.
