BEGINS HERE...
The process begins with a rough sketch drawn directly onto the paper, and then I begin cutting the various origami papers, teabags, beads, or other media, to create part of the basic composition. Currently I am also working with reclaimed billboard vinyl as part of my collage base and background materials, and working with the colors used in pop culture communications to become an intrinsic part of my compositions and decision-making process. I then layer many drawings of world-textile-based designs, and mix and match these, Celtic with African with Indian, etc., to achieve a solid, whole composition made of many elements. My color schemes are directly related to the salvaged signage and recycled items I use as my base. I also explore the use of commercially printed journal papers and calendar pages from my recent past to incorporate another aspect of recycling, leaving the numbers, dates, and my own writing visible for the most part, to support the idea of women and their role in our culture, and more largely, in the world.
The images reflect colorful, solitary women usually, in the tradition of Fauvist works and folk art depictions of women/icons such as the Virgen de Guadalupe. When more than one woman is present, I am depicting the relationships between the characters, a mood, a meaning, which will communicate to the viewer a sense of what may be going on between the characters on the canvas or between the image and the viewer. In my compositions I work to include enough detail and pattern so that the viewer can see something new in each viewing.
Angels are a recurring theme in my work in that I see women as angels in culture, and I like to explore the folkloric and religious dimensions of these protectors in world cultures.
Color and line express mood and symbolism in these works, and rather than imitate skin colors one might see in nature, the approach to depicting faces is open-ended and not confined to a reflection of reality.
Great influences are my Southern upbringing (Memphis, Tennessee) and my exposure to Southern music and bold unapologetic folk art. The colorfulness of the South and its humor sensibilities come through in my color work and my approach to expression of character. Other interests which influence my approach are Outsider Art (simplicity), Persian miniatures and Indian paintings (design and decorative linework), Mexican icon and altar works of the Madonna (color, beads, dimension), Fauvist works (color) and humorous popular art (facial expressions and attitude). Artists I feel most influenced by are Frida Kahlo, Howard Finster, Henri Matisse, Raoul Dufy, Amedeo Modigliani, and Edward Gorey.
For more information, please see www.trobertslogan.com.
2008 Touchstone Gallery