I had a chance to create a new painting inspired in part by the comb jellyfish. The underlying structure of this painting started with looking at images and videos of the bioluminescent creature that lives in the deep ocean.

This is the same creature that inspired H.R. Giger to create the alien for the alien movies. I think his interpretation is much more menacing than my own. I use my own language of painting to create the otherworldly unseen universe in each original art piece.

As in many of my artworks, some inspirations are nameable in our world and some are completely abstract. However, I think my visual language adds secrets and hidden meanings to these real sources. The viewer can consider if is this real or not. I want viewers to question and look within their knowledge of the universe to see what they can figure out, decode, or even imagine.

I sometimes wonder if it is important for me to name the creatures that inspire my work because I change it so much from the the original source that it is hardly recognizable. I was also inspired by diatoms which are the light blue and purple forms in the night sky or deep ocean. There are many forms in this painting that are invented and do not come from our world. This painting is part of the GLOW series created in 2012-2013 but this new piece was created in 2024

*Radar*, 14" x 16", acrylic on canvas, 2024, private collection.

The album layout was designed by Graphic Designer Alexander C. Sprungle https://sprungle.co/ He did such a great job with the project and I love the little details he took from my painting and added to the layout here.
My amazing artist friend Justin Henry Miller recommended my artwork for this project. Thank you so much to Justin! Please check out his work as he is an incredible artist based in Missouri and shows frequently here in Chicago at ZG Gallery.

***You Can Pick it Up On Radar***, 20" x 20", acrylic on canvas, 2013, private collection

How to Be Human

April 28, 2017

“It's been almost five years since The Classic Crime dropped their last full-length album of originals, called Phoenix; and many wondered what they would get from their newest offering… Thankfully, the Classic Crime are still around. And thankfully, they’re still making some of the best music out there. The suitable conclusion that the album arrives at in its final line ("Savior/Save me") serves as an appropriate statement to end such a colorful listening experience.”

Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp | Youtube

Video Animation of my painting

Watch this animation of my paint for the song “Not Done with You Yet” for the album “How to Be Human”

Colorful exhibition Boom Bloom

opens at Krasl Art Center this Spring

Female duo presents color-saturated art, inspiring spring programs in-person and online.

ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN- Krasl Art Center (KAC) welcomes a new exhibition to southwest Michigan this spring. Between April 3 - June 6, 2021, visitors are invited to experience Boom Bloom, featuring Nikki Renee Anderson and Renee Robbins in KAC’s main gallery. Exhibitions are free and open to the public Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday 11 AM - 5 PM, with virtual and in-person programming planned on Facebook and Zoom.

download PDF press release

Renee Robbins, Siren Song, 48" x 72", acrylic on canvas, 2019.

Krasl Art Center’s main galleries will welcome Boom Bloom, featuring sculptures by Nikki Renee Anderson (Chicago) and paintings by Renee Robbins (Chicago) that explode, reconfigure, and blossom on April 3. United in form, their works employ organic shapes and bright, bold colors. In addition, both artists draw on real objects and lived experiences to create something beyond. Sculptures by Anderson recall childhood memories - like watching her father bake - while inventing new forms that explore the feminine experience. The soft rolls of her sculptures might just as easily evoke a pastry as the human body. Similarly, Robbins studies cells, stars, and the natural world in between to inform the new worlds she paints. Her paintings shift between recognizable flora to completely original biomorphic landscapes.

Biomorphic compositions multiply, shift, and drip inside a candy colored otherworld. Themes of growth connect the works in rhythmic blooms at either the beginning or the end of natural cycles. Hybrid forms simultaneously evoke so many different things such as cells, botanicals, or the human body. While drawing from the familiar, invention and a whimsical sense of play characterize the work. The ornamentation and saturated colors present ideas to lure, entice, and attract. The artworks consider standards of beauty, impermanence, and notions of femininity through a push-pull tension. Layers of attraction and repulsion manifest on the micro and macro scale in tandem like a daydream.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Nikki Renee Anderson lives and works in Chicago, IL. She has exhibited extensively including recent exhibitions at the Chicago Cultural Center, Hyde Park Art Center, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, Glass Curtain Gallery and The Grounds For Sculpture. Anderson’s work has been reviewed in many publications such as the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, Sculpture Magazine, Ceramics Art and Perception and American Craft Magazine. She received an MFA from Stony Brook University and a BFA from Drake University. She is a full time faculty member at Harper College where she runs the Ceramics program.

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 the Chicago Public Art Group, Wabash Arts Corridor, and Illinois’ Art-In-Architecture Program. She has exhibited widely, including exhibitions at The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Chicago, IL; Lois Lambert Gallery, Santa Monica, CA; Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL; and the Alden B Dow Museum of Science and Art, Midland, MI. Robbins received her MFA from Michigan State University.

ABOUT THE CENTER: Krasl Art Center is a nonprofit art museum and learning center that enriches the lives of people living in or visiting Southwest Michigan by delivering enlightening art experiences through diverse education opportunities, meaningful events, and high quality exhibits and collections. KAC’s mission is to inspire meaningful change and strengthen community through the visual arts. To learn more, visit krasl.org.

EXHIBITION PROGRAMMING:

ARTIST TALK WITH NIKKI RENEE ANDERSON & RENEE ROBBINS
SATURDAY, MAY 8, 1 - 2PM EST
Free, In-Person and Virtual Event on Zoom; Register in advance at krasl.org
Join the artists in KAC’s galleries to learn about their inspiration, process, and the connections between their work.

LIVE AT LUNCHTIME FOCUS TALKS EVERY THURSDAY AT NOON EST
Free Virtual Event Live on KAC’s Facebook Page
Of special note:
APRIL 8: VIRTUAL COFFEE WITH THE CURATOR
APRIL 15: NIKKI RENEE ANDERSON
APRIL 22: EARTH DAY CELEBRATION
APRIL 29: RENEE ROBBINS

Krasl Art Center will offer different virtual and in-person programs for these exhibitions. Live at Lunchtime Focus Talks occur every Thursday at Noon on Facebook Live and offer insights from artists about the work on view at KAC and within our community. Some of the topics for these exhibitions include Coffee with the Curator (April 8), Nikki Renee Anderson (April 15), Earth Day Celebration (April 22), and Renee Robbins (April 29).

Learn about the artists’ inspiration, process, and the connections between the two Boom Bloom creators during a Hybrid Artist Talk on Saturday, May 8 at 1 PM. Guests will have the opportunity to register in advance for a discussion with Anderson and Robbins in KAC’s galleries - or stream the lecture from home via Zoom.

The community is also invited to register for KAC’s Third Thursday virtual series in April and May. Celebrate National Garden Month on April 15 at 7 PM with experts as we ‘dig deeper’ on the topic of gardening. Then on May 20 at 7 PM, join KAC Deputy Director and Curator, Tami Miller, on Zoom for a live tour from artlab artist Mike Slaski’s studio. Learn more about the artist and his process, see additional work, and ask questions during this virtual evening event. Register for either event at krasl.org/art/program registration.

On the Second Saturday of April and May from 11 AM - 12:30 PM, join KAC for Boom Bloom- themed virtual Family Days. Information on these free, virtual events and how to register can be found at krasl.org/education/free-and-fun. Join KAC on April 10 for Painted Abstract Sculptures inspired by Nikki Renee Anderson and on May 8 for Water Bears and Watercolors, Art inspired by Science and Renee Robbins.

Information and registration information for all of KAC’s programs can be found at krasl.org.

Robbins’ artworks are partially supported by a 2021 Individual Artist Support grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Robbins’ artworks also partially supported by a 2021 Individual Artist Program Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, as well as a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.