Rebekka MACHT

When I moved to Accra last year, I moved into a fully tiled compound, which has become common in Accra… eliminating soil and green space, and making the climate even hotter. In response, I began cultivating a garden using recycled water-canisters as planters. Slowly, the space is transforming. What began as a practical solution became an extension of my work: a daily practice of tending to life in a place where nature had been removed. This garden has opened a new visual and conceptual branch in my work. I’ve long been obsessed with taking close-up „portraits“ of plants. Recently, I’ve started translating them into paintings that explore sensuality and the fragile persistence of life. They reflect the psychological terrain that runs through my figurative work while grounding it in ecological care, a care that goes beyond human relations.

‘reach’
triptych 3 x 60 x 90 cm
oil on linen
2025

charcoals, 2025

Into your hands, I commit my spirit
2025
Oil on canvas
300 x 240 cm
118 1/8 x 94 1/2 in
(20 canvases 60 x 60 cm each)

“Technically, her practice is a dialogue between memory and innovation. The deliberate, almost ritualistic setups of her compositions reflect an intuitive understanding of form and function, honed by her background in art and mathematics. Macht’s paintings are imbued with a sense of contemporary timelessness, an immediate sense of Homeric metaphor, transcending the immediate to engage with enduring questions of human existence: How do we reconcile the protective instincts of motherhood with the inevitability of separation? How does one articulate the weight of societal constructs on the intimate sphere of family life?” - excerpt from curatorial text by Azu Nwagbogu

Courtesy of