In art, the direct gaze can be compelling, disturbing or disarming, offering frank emotional engagement. But, in life, in our remote and digital age, this vital physical connection between us is increasingly absent.

 

Rosalind Robinson is a figurative painter who seeks to redress the balance. In distinctive and arresting images, laden with symbolism, she explores personal space and human proximity – or distance. The imaginary, sometimes surreal, portraits she creates convey the mystery and ambiguity implicit in facial expression and the tensions between individuals: we, the viewer, are held in the figures' gaze and wonder about about their story and their relevance to the present day.

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One of Rosalind's trademarks, emanating from her theatrical roots, is the extraordinary way she completes the costume and identity of each figure with a headdress that replaces hair: she gives many of her figures a paper or ribbon-like head form which she paints based on full-size models that she makes, meticulously, from twisted and folded paper. The faces morph into these structures and the head-top adornments become part of the symbolism and characterisation of each figure.

 

"I started out adapting my love of natural form to paint hair that looked like tree bark or roots and then I moved into adapting still life forms. It was a progression and gives me plenty of scope to adapt style and shape to each figure, group or series."

 

Her award-winning work is represented nationally and internationally in public and private collections, and is exhibited regularly in London, Bristol and Bath. After studying for a BA in Fine Art in London, she was a scenic artist for the BBC before pursuing a career as a mural painter.

 

Since 2010, her focus has been on producing paintings and drawings in her studio. She was elected as a Member of the Society of Women Artists in 2017 and in 2020 she was elected as an Academician at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol.

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