Reflection: Robin Jebavy Artist Talk

I was slightly overwhelmed by Robin Jebavy's paintings, but their intricacy drew me in at the same time. Seeing the journey from her undergraduate work, which relied more heavily on realism, to her current works which are very abstracted and almost psychedelic was a switch-up I was unprepared for. I can and can't imagine sticking with one theme for decades at a time. On the one hand, the endless varieties of glassware forms I'm sure provide multitudes of material upon which to draw. On the other, the world is too full of interesting things for me to ever stop learning and thinking about it all. I think I might feel stifled just focusing on one basic idea for my entire career, no matter how many layers of paint I added to the canvas.

One of Jebavy's works that I found compelling: Set Table (Red). Source.

I was very interested in Jebavy's concept of the glass vessel as analog to the human figure. I didn't quite understand that part of the presentation, or how she saw in glassware alone the metaphor for breaking down the boundaries between self and other. I wish she had focused more on her meaning-making journey, or at least made more connections for listeners between the visual evolving of her paintings and the meaning evolving. Maybe that felt too vulnerable, I'm not sure. Watching her presentation, I felt like I was supposed to be impressed by her technical skill first and foremost, and then think about what the work might actually mean. Not that art has to mean something to the maker for it to be art, but she talked about it like it meant something dear to her, and I wanted her to pull on that thread. I haven't seen these paintings in person in the Wriston Gallery yet, so maybe I'll get something out of sitting with them in person that I didn't get from the talk.

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