Robin Tewes

Untitled. circa 1993

Paper collage

5” x 7”

Artist Statement 2020:

“At first glance, my work appears ordinary but nothing is really what it seems. The backgrounds of some of my work are covered with images and words that are scratched into the walls of the rooms. It can have a contradictory quality, yet is integrated into the space as it is into human consciousness. Most paintings are purposely intimate in scale or detailed so that the viewer is drawn in for a closer look. Then the narrative or content can change because of the written words on the walls or other images that are not immediately visible. Repeated images such as brick, plants, crumpled paper, windows, and sky, reflect the surreal subtleties that lurk in the mundane and peripheral experience of contemporary life. My work is involved with expressing paradoxical truths and the short stories have psychological theory. The characters for the most part are people that I know. Class and gender issues, especially in the art world, is an under-explored topic. My life’s work has been involved with this investigation and other social political concerns. I want my paintings to be accessible and the personal reference to be a universal experience.”