Annie Rapstoff
Nostos (home coming), (photographer V. Vergou) (2020), photographic
An image for the photographic show, Dangerous Field, working collaboratively with artist Vicky Vergou. The image depicts a figure (the artist) kneeling prostrate with her face on the land, appearing to pray, smell, taste, bow or touch the earth. This moment can be seen as a connection with the living and breathing land, capturing the moment of merging with life itself.
A performance, (2017) concerning windfall apples collected on a residency in Slovakia. These apples were collected from villagers gardens as they were not being used. Since a supermarket was opened nearby the apples were no longer used in favour of supermarket apples.
Work in progress, (2023) exploring our relationship to pigeons, seen as "vermin".
Flight (2023) A series of three watercolours, shown at In The Likeness of Birds a show at The North Wall Gallery Oxford UK. Exploring the possibility of interconnection with birds
Trapped Bird Sings, (2023) a performance at In The Likeness of Birds, responses to birds on the red list as endangered species
Wings, (2023) Calico canvas wings exhibited at In The Likeness of Birds, The North Wall Gallery Oxford
Annie Rapstoff is interested in responding to place and the human condition. She examines relationships with other beings in the widest sense of the word, including animals, plants, soil, and trees.
Since 2019, she is exploring possibilities of self-transformation and interbeing with birds. She examines the interplay and impact of human intervention within the landscape and in relation to other species. She is currently investigating animism and “the imagined heard, felt, and experienced.” Her current work on birds has included work on mimesis, postures, behavior, and myths around such birds as The Magpie, The Albatross, and The Cuckoo.
She works with whatever materials work for her ideas, however, this mainly includes performance, text, book art, spoken word, video, and stitch. Her work is often participatory, collaborative, process-based or ephemeral, taking the form of instructions, events, performance for the camera and in situ, gestures, interventions, video and writing/language.