Today, we’d like to introduce you to Rhee Lightner.
Hi Rhee, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I hail from a rural town in Maryland with close proximity to several metropolitan cities. As a result, my artistic influences run the gamut from high to low art and include Andy Warhol, John Waters, Edward Hopper, and Joan Mitchell, but I also adore art found in flea market culture: postcards, pin-ups, magazine advertisements, television, and the movies.
In 2016, I relocated from Maryland to Cincinnati, Ohio, to pursue a BFA in painting with the goal of becoming the best abstract painter that I could be. I still haven’t accomplished that goal, but I’m happy to keep trying!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There have been many obstacles to overcome and still more in the future, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to reassess where I put my focus and invest my time and energy. The pandemic caused many of my best-laid plans to fall to pieces. For example, after graduation, I booked several event photography jobs, only to lose them because of the pandemic. In event photography, it’s important to do the jobs because they often lead to more work. It was financially devastating and prompted me to search for other ways to make an income.
Regardless of how many times my business plan has had to pivot since 2020, I keep producing work. To create despite a lack of approval or funding is incredibly difficult.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a Pop Maximalist painter who creates bright and playful portraits, abstract color-field paintings, collages, and photography. I sell my artwork through my small business, Rhee Lightner Studio, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and through a local online gallery called Seven Hills Art. I’m best known for my abstract paintings that explore color’s influence on energy and memory. Primarily, I create non-objective work; however, the subject of my paintings expands to self-portraits and pop culture icons of my youth. Nostalgia plays a huge role in my work, and the color is a button that I push to invoke warm memories of my childhood.
Within my artistic practice, I translate ideas, feelings, and communal symbols into rudimentary shapes and hues as I explore the erasure of memory by popular media. Influenced by commercial advertising and the saturated pigments of the 1980s and 90s, I intentionally reference mass media by mimicking pigments or by borrowing well-circulated imagery. By employing this visual language, I hope to trigger recollections of a personal and collective nature.
I’m most proud of my ability to persevere despite the challenges of a pandemic and living in a world that doesn’t prioritize painting over other interests or genres of entertainment.
Paint is expensive! I had to become a Jill of All Trades because the more I could do myself, the less labor I had to outsource. I really enjoy running a small business because no two days are ever the same. It’s perfect for someone who loves variety and gets bored doing the same thing every day.
My business, Rhee Lightner Studio, offers so many unique services. In addition to my art practice, I accept commissions and provide art consulting and installation assistance for businesses, artists, and private residences.
Rhee Lightner Studio also operates Kitty Curio’s Magical Body Care, which is a metaphysical business specializing in the production and distribution of natural body care and vintage curio and occult items. My business partner and cousin, Kitty Curio, helped me run the company. She charges for in-person mediumship sessions and virtual tarot readings but gives free, private mentoring to people who are gifted psychics but unsure how to use their talents. In a world with so much uncertainty, a touch of magic and compassion goes a long way. KCMBC is about creating positive change by leaning into self-care and investigating the unknown through intuition.
All of these services can be booked through my website: rheelightnerstudio.com.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I’ve created a positive memory in a meditation where I sit lovingly with the little girl version of me on a beautiful, handmade picnic blanket. We share a feast of tiny cakes, tea, and cheese and giggle easily. After lunch, we play on a makeshift swing hanging from a branch on the world tree. It’s a gorgeous day with a light breeze blowing the scent of wisteria in the air.
Pricing:
- The Big Rock Candy Mountain, Acrylic paint and oil stick on wood, ten by 8 inches, $350 https://www.sevenhillsart.com/products/the-big-rock-candy-mountain
- The Miami Vice Theme Song, 2022 Acrylic paint on clay board 18 by 24 inches $375 https://www.sevenhillsart.com/products/the-miami-vice-theme-song
- Crazy Like Us, 2024 Acrylic paint and Flashe on wood, 14 by 18 inches $350 https://www.sevenhillsart.com/collections/rhee-lightner/products/crazy-like-us
- It’s Like Jumping Into the Deepest Ocean, 2022 Acrylic paint on stretched canvas, 24 by 36 inches, $500 https://www.sevenhillsart.com/products/its-like-jumping-into-the-deepest-part-of-the-ocean
- Kelsey Grammer’s Voice, 2023 Acrylic paint and Flashe on masonite 34 by 34 inches, $500
- https://www.sevenhillsart.com/products/kelsey-grammers-voice-1
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rheelightnerstudio.com/
- Instagram: rheelightnerstudio
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhee-lightner-painter
- Other: https://linktr.ee/kittys_curio
Image Credits
Rhee Lightner
