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Artist Statement
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I create detailed visual environments that consider the complex relationships between humans, nature, and the cosmos. Through painting, I explore the dynamic world as I travel between subatomic and telescopic scales in the unseen universe. We learn about magic all around us through the lenses of microscopes, magnifying glasses, cameras, and telescopes. Moving between real and imagined subjects, my work broadens our awareness to enrich our lives. For example, I position hybrid flora/fauna within new interpretations of the deep sea and the night sky. That includes cells, flowering botanicals, aquatic species, and celestial bodies. By creating associations between things that are seemingly disparate in scale and form, my work shows the world through a new lens. This abstract space is luminously populated with dots, circles, and hieroglyphic-like marks. In this way, my images reflect the diverse world and the power of nature by creating awe and a sense of wonder.
Biography
Renee Robbins is a Chicago-based visual artist who layers biomorphic forms to create detailed otherworldly environments. She has been awarded public art commissions with Chicago Public Art Group, Wabash Arts Corridor, and Illinois’ Art-In-Architecture program. She has exhibited widely, including exhibitions at Lois Lambert Gallery, Santa Monica, CA; Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Chicago, IL; Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL; and the Alden B Dow Museum of Science and Art, Midland, MI. Press features include PBS WTTW Chicago Tonight, Chicago Gallery News, Chicago Magazine, Inside/Within, and an audio interview on Ahtcast. The forms in her paintings have been classified by a diatom taxonomist in an artist feature on the US Diatoms database at the University of Colorado. Honors include three grants from Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and a 2021 grant from the Illinois Arts Council to develop her current work. Robbins received her MFA from Michigan State University and has been working in Chicago since 2007.
Resume
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