A message from Robert
When I lived in Lower Manhattan , I haunted certain stores on Canal Streeet that
and wood. Out front there were bins and barrels containing odd shapes,
forms and scraps. Some were sheets with interestingly shaped openings,
odd forms that had been parts of mysterious mechanisms. They beckoned
to me to take them away.
I hungrily bought these things, knowing that I would use them in the future. Carefully stored in my workshop, they would linger and tantalize
me for years before I used them in new works. Colors and forms suggested by these random acquisitions were often the catalysts for new sculptures, assemblages and wall sculptures.
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| "Shiva" |
The range of colors and tones in these materials could also be altered with paints, pigments and sprays. I found myself creating free-standing constructions and collage-like sculptural wall reliefs. Some aluminum pieces were welded and others had elements joined with epoxy adhesives and rivets.
Drawings and paintings from nature- landscapes, plants and flowers, became the basis for prints that expressed colors in a different way. It is exciting to go from these two-dimensional works to contrasting three-dimensional sculptural forms.
My major influences have always been based on the concepts and forms of twentieth century art such as Abstraction, Collage and Surrealism. Picasso, Henry Moore and other seminal Modern artists have been my inspirations and heroes. I feel that with my contemporaries I am helping to build on the achievements of earlier generations.
Hello Robert. I enjoyed reading your new posting very much--I can certainly relate to all that browsing and collecting of plastic bits and interesting metal scraps on Canal Street in Lower Manhattan. I hope some of those shops are still there--they are/were so fascinating! I still use some of the shapes I found there to press into my clay work--my favorite one is an old metal lamp pull I found in one of the bins.
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