Britt: Robin Schaefer Interview

Robin Schaefer

Brittany: You stated at your artist talk that you paint both from life and photo references. As you are executing your works, are there stages where one is used more than the other?

Robin Schaefer: While I am painting I use photo references. This is partly because my paintings develop slowly over time and the subjects I like to paint would decompose. I also like to capture a certain quality of light in my paintings and by taking photographs of the object I can capture that moment.

Brittany: Why do you choose to work using both of these approaches?

Robin Schaefer: I think both are helpful and challenging in different ways. I appreciate the spontaneity that comes from working from life. It is important to change your approach at times and experiment as an artist.

Brittany: Light seems to be another heavy factor within your works as well. Do you see the reflective images that have emerged within your recent pieces as being an extension of this fascination with light?

Robin Schaefer: Light is important in my paintings and I feel it is still a factor in the reflection pieces. I am continuously fascinated with how light can evoke emotion and the reflections add a new element to that. The type of light I use in the reflection pieces is actually very specific. It is from an exact time of day just before sunset and it created this really beautiful ghost like reflection. I studied the way the reflections changed through out the day in various sources of light until I found the right time and effect that I wanted.

Brittany: A large number of your pieces have a very dark if not black background. Do you do this as a stylistic choice, a tool to emphasize your highly saturated hues, or is it apart of a symbolic reference?

Robin Schaefer: The black background is a stylistic choice. It emphasizes the object in the painting and intensifies the fact that the object is isolated. It is dramatic and it makes the space feel infinite. It recedes back. As if you could reach your hand into it. It also references Dutch still life, which use primarily black backgrounds.

Brittany: Predominately in historic still life paintings the viewer is placed a good distance above the objects and looks down upon them. In contrast, your works seem to move the viewer right at or ever so slightly below or above eye level. Is this motif an intentional one? If so, what are you trying to evoke from your audience when you place them at this viewpoint.

Robin Schaefer: I choose a viewpoint that is meant to be engaging and somewhat unsettling. The subject matter is always blown up to be much larger than life and tends to dominate the space on the canvas. I also really want the viewer to notice the details of the subject and its unusual characteristics so I tend to place the object more at eye level.

Brittany: When looking at your body of works as a whole, it is clear that you are continuing with more or less solid thematic ideas that involve organic items and the play of light. The bottle cap paintings appear to be a slight divergence from this due to their synthetic makeup and their reflections that make them a little ambiguous to the viewer. Do you possibly see these as opening a new door to your next series?

Robin Schaefer: I definitely feel that the bottle caps opened up a new door for me and I intend to use them in my next series. I like the ambiguity that they evoke and it is interesting that they still have an organic feel to them. I am also really intrigued with how they seem to fuse realism and abstraction.

Brittany: When choosing your subject matter, are you more interested in the significance that the object can carry or the color and surface quality of the item?

Robin Schaefer: Both of these are a factor in the subjects I choose. However, initially I am drawn to the texture and color of the object. I like to choose subjects that are sensual but also unusual and a lot of that has to do with their texture and color. The white asparagus is a good example.

Brittany: Within your pieces it seems fairly evident that you are attracted to organic forms and the symbolic connotations that they can carry. Can you elaborate how you draw this connection between the chosen imagery and the thoughts, feelings, and ideas that you are trying to convey?

Robin Schaefer: I often start with an emotion I want to convey and then I search for imagery that I feel will fit with that. The potato paintings, for example are about shyness. I new I wanted to do a series on the subject of shyness and insecurity but it took me months to find the right subject matter. In fact I stumbled upon the potatoes one day when my friend was cleaning out her cupboard. They were so shocking and bizarre and they had this quality of being extremely ugly and yet beautiful. The fact that they were growing in the dark was also very symbolic to me. This seemed to parallel the feeling of being shy. Wanting to hide but also wanting to break out and transform. I feel it is very provoking to use organic subject matter to convey my ideas and feelings because that are around us and sustain us on a daily basis. So in a way it is more engaging to see them isolated in a space and blown up larger than life. They become very monumental.