Robyn A. Frank

My work is a celebration of change. Thinking about change as the cyclical duality of creation and loss. Creation and loss like ebb and flow, birth and death, inhale, and exhale. Something like big life changing moments to small imperceptible ones — a constant cycle happening with or without our attention. Building further, the work frames change as relational practice or relational experience. Something like the constant co-creation of experiences amongst people, given any particular conditions or circumstances. And to bring to that idea of relationships, that idea of we, as active and create-able, changeable. Just as we are, right now, creating this moment together through words and print.

Visually, these ideas are explored through format, shape, and color. Some pieces are diptychs or triptychs, such that the panels are inherently in relationship to one another and exist as a part of a whole. Often, I use repeating or reflecting shapes to represent duality of self — the innate up and down of all things — or to symbolize change across time or conext. Color is used symbolically. Gradients are a literal expression of transformation, of change. The gradient fields connect to observable sky hues during specific times of the day and times of the year. Moreover, color grounds the sense of place of my work in New Mexico.

My paintings are made with highly pigmented, fluid acrylic paint on hand-sanded gessoed baltic birch wood panels. Painting many many thin layers of paint, and hand-sanding between passes minimizes surface texture and brush strokes. Pieces are sealed with an isolation top coat. It is my hope to create well-crafted and lasting work that offers a meaningful contemplative respite, a place for quiet conversation.