David Robinson

Thursday October 24th, 2024, 5-7pm

Surface Tension

“In the studio the work of the mind and that of the hand coalesce under the particular inherence of matter. One cannot trust one’s own mind to be always truthful nor the hand and eye to resist pretension, but the third element, matter, is never compromised, never without its integrity. It is, unlike the virtual, never without its virtue.

Clay, wax, molten metal – to work toward any concept in such media is to be tripped up on the first step of the journey by the pre-existent inherence of the lump of matter in hand.  The traditional sculptor’s attitude toward this challenge occurs somewhere within a continuum, framed on the one side by a will to absolute technical mastery tending toward ever more exultant variations of realism, and on the other by a more recent opposing orthodoxy in which truth-to-materials is all.

Born in Toronto, David Robinson entered the Fine Arts stream in high school specializing in sculpture. He continued his studies at Langara College and became an Honours Graduate in the Sculpture Program at the Ontario College of Art.  For over 30 years, Vancouver, Canada has been his residence where his art practice has flourished.

Robinson’s striking sculptures incorporate a variety of materials ranging from bronze, steel and silver to concrete, mirror and paper. While his oeuvre is the figure, he often adds psychological and mythological twists to his subjects by situating them in environments that speak to the inherent tensions of human life. Robinson has a deep reverence for imagery and symbolism, and this, combined with his remarkable skill, allows the viewer to surmise and discover the allegorical through contemporary form.

Robinson says, “It seems to me that my sculptures, before they are anything else, are manifestations of fitful waking dreams; narratives whole and smashed, images and ideas all distilled through the passage of time and the particular resistance of matter.”