Day Robertson

BIO

Day Robertson is a Senior Painting student at Savannah College of Art and Design. As a conceptual artist, Robertson delves deep into the thematic core of isolation and escapism, illustrating the fine line between the healing nature of self reflection and the harm of rumination. The artwork transports viewers to a dream-like state where reality blurs through deconstructed backgrounds and abstract figures. Their work is a depiction of the human desire to escape the confines of everyday life, often in misguided ways. Robertson practices in Atlanta, Georgia, and was raised in Florence, Alabama.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Throughout my practice, I have been continuously drawn to the philosophical and contemplative side of art. I believe there should be a meditative quality to the ideation, creation, and reception of each piece. My work represents notions of isolation and self reflection that is often discovered through the creation of art, as well as the often misguided methods of escapism that we all practice in our daily lives.

I have made a series of large scale altarpieces and wooden panels that contain a central theme of seeking enlightenment and introspection. This can be explored through religious practices, or in the process of overcoming personal hardship and grief. Each series shows surreal backgrounds dissolving into space, or being broken down into basic geometric forms while the subject struggles to exist in the confines of the background. The surreal nature of the backgrounds and abstraction of the subject should lead the viewer to question how they are personally affected by the absence of control in our lives.

Interview with Day Robertson

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you became interested in becoming an artist?

The majority of my development in art began by replicating things around me with charcoal and graphite. However, when I was very young I focused on drawing fantasy environments. Things like castles and dragons would take up hours of my time. Once I enrolled in art school, I moved away from realism and was drawn back to these ideas of fantasized environments and motifs, focusing on how distorting reality can play into the emotions of each piece.

Can you tell us about some of your most memorable early influences?

One of my first major inspirations as a kid was Leonardo Da Vinci. To me his work was the epitome of innovation and critical thinking alongside art. My current favorite artist, Do Ho Suh, exemplifies this kind of innovation in a very personal and narrative way. I was also drawn to the atmospheric quality in Raphael’s work, as well as several of the vibrant woodcuts from the Edo period.

Where are you currently based and what brought you there? Are there any aspects of this specific location or community that have inspired your work?

I moved to Atlanta Georgia to finish my undergraduate program. I’ve always felt like the interaction between culture and art is particularly emphasized here. Local artists often establish themselves through murals or even through graffiti in the city. I've learned to stress the innovative aspects of my practice, and that the general art market will vary from city to city, but expressive pieces with a clear narrative will help you connect with your audience effectively.

What is your studio space like? What makes your space unique to you?

Like several students, my studio space is simply my apartment, and most of the space is dedicated to the sculptural side of my practice. Keeping a separate space for sawing and shaping each panel is important, but regardless, most of my belongings have a light layer of sawdust on them. When it comes to painting and drawing, I find it best to have all of the materials laid out in the open and organized, but the creative process will always lead to unintentional chaos. After working with mixed media for a while, the mess began to feel more naturally conducive to ideas than a neat and orderly space.

What is a typical day like? If you don't have a typical day, what is an ideal day? Do you work in large chunks of time, or throughout the day?

I've recently begun spending at least an hour a day sketching and planning for future series. An ideal day would likely be around eight hours of work, but it is often solely based on how connected I am to each project. I try to take advantage of the creative flow, and some work sessions on a single piece can last up to eighteen hours.

What gets you in a creative groove or flow? Is there anything that interrupts your creative energy?

Talking to other artists and watching them work has recently been a big help during creative blocks. Talking about their own creative process and showing them any piece I feel a bit stuck on can provide a valuable outside perspective. Other students are beginning to define their own style and establish a cohesive series, so they understand what kind of critique is going to be the most helpful at each stage in the process. Taking a while to look at other forms of media, like films or installations, often helps as well. It gives a different version of an outside perspective.

How do you maintain momentum in your practice? Is there anything that hinders or helps your focus?

Reviewing all of my sketches, both new and old, is always helpful, but I've found that writing about each piece helps me understand what I truly want to accomplish and how. Detailing everything from the visual and thematic inspiration to the material list will help continue the creative process without physically altering anything. Forcing productivity during a slow day can be less helpful than taking a short break to gather your thoughts.

What medium/media are you working in right now? What draws you to this particular material or method?

I have been focused on developing mixed media pieces on wooden panels, as well as some new experiments with etching and printmaking. My most recent piece used reclaimed wood and focused on letting materiality dictate the process. The existing wood grain textures and knots established the composition and shape of the piece, making everything process based instead of drawing from conceptual themes. The qualities and essence of nature is exemplified by the raw materials it provides.

Can you walk us through your overall process in making your current work? Does drawing play a role in your process?

I place a huge emphasis on ideating and sketching for each piece, as the conceptual side of creating is very important to my practice. Several pages of my sketchbook are filled with thumbnail sketches of the same composition being continuously reworked. Although planning is important, there is still always an intuitive nature to the creative process. Nothing is created exactly as planned. Experimenting with as many processes as possible and allowing room for failure has significantly increased my output of work, and helped lead me to discover what I genuinely enjoy creating.

What is exciting about your process currently?

I'm currently working with Virtual Vistas to digitize and 3D model my portfolio, as well as exploring new media to dictate my next series. Returning to acrylic paint instead of oil has been an exciting aspect of the past year.

Can you talk about some of the ongoing interests, imagery, and concepts that have informed your process and body of work over time? How do you anticipate your work progressing in the future?

Construction methods and triptychs from the Renaissance and Byzantine era have played a massive role in the development of my work. After being challenged with making an eight foot long opening triptych, I realized that it was an effective method of expressing my religious influence from growing up in the deep south. The experimentation involved also enabled me to be more confident in painting imagined environments and moving away from using photographs as resources.

Do you pursue any collaborations, projects, or careers in addition to your studio practice? If so, can you tell us more about those projects, and are there connections between your studio practice and these endeavors?

I've recently been interested in the development of AI as a research and reference tool rather than a replacement for generating images. In the future, I believe that working in furniture development would work in conjunction with my shapes panels and wood carvings. I originally started school as an animation student, and this aspect of time based media still heavily inspires and helps create tension in my current compositions. I could imagine small and personal animations becoming part of my practice in the future, particularly stop motion and hand drawn animation.

Have you had any epiphanies recently that have changed the course of your work or caused you to shift directions?

Lately my ideas on general social interaction and the uniting factors between all of mankind have influenced several works. I believe that reality leads humanity to constantly seek control and escapism where none exists, and that this is what leads to several of the social institutions of our time. Religion, addictions, and sometimes unhealthy relationships are often sought out as a form of coping with the realities around us. Fear is something that simultaneously unites and divides us. I have also begun incorporating specific memories in an ambiguous way so that the audience can relate to each piece as part of the shared human experience instead of just seeing my perspective.

Can you share some of your recent influences? Are there specific works—from visual art, literature, film, or music — that are important to you?

My biggest contemporary influences go back to thematic elements. Artists like Do ho suh, Sergio Suarez, and George Graham serve as my primary inspiration. The work is all very different, but I find the technical qualities of their work to be absolutely stunning. Graham in particular made a series depicting the theories and myths of creation. His piece “Primal Conflict'' serves as a massive inspiration for me, both in the expressive brush strokes and theological inspiration.

Can you elaborate on a recent work of yours, and tell us the story of how it came to be?

“An Open Mind” is a piece inspired by my upbringing in the South. The piece uses architectural qualities with religious connotations, such as stained glass and Corinthian columns. It displays the idea of being raised without belief in a deeply religious town, always on the outside looking in, and unsure how to interpret its ongoing contradictions as a child struggling to just exist. Looking back at the piece, I can tell that is where the myth of control began to dictate some of my work. It shows an orderly background that reflects the false sense of order and security that those with faith often seek. This was my first instance of gradually layering colored pencils and paint to get to the final product, which added a meditative quality to the process. The reflective nature of art often brings out the concepts we want to communicate without us even realizing it at first.

Have you overcome any memorable roadblocks or struggles in your practice that you could share with us?

Using specific memories as the starting point for each piece can be particularly challenging. For example, the depiction of mental illness in art can be healing and provide some self reflection, but the creative process can also open old wounds. I’ve often found myself trying to draw from experiences that I still have not healed from, or still do not fully understand, and it can lead to associate art with the pain instead of the release.

Who are some contemporary artists you’re excited about? Is there a recent exhibition that stood out to you?

I recently visited an exhibit on the mirrored works from Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian. The works explored grief through geometric sculptures, particularly the grief of moving from her home and eventually losing her partner. This stood out to me because it showed the bittersweet nature of paying homage to something you love that still provides so much heartache.

Do you have any tips or advice that someone has shared with you that you have found particularly helpful?

Oftentimes artists do not try new things, or they feel the need to fully understand each process before trying it. Trying something new going in with limited knowledge and experience can often be beneficial because you don't yet see the limitations of the craft. You will focus more on accomplishing something the way you want it done rather than following the technical applications and recommendations behind it.

What are you working on in the studio right now? What’s coming up next for you?

I plan to explore installation art as my next new form of media. Being given the space and proper time frame to work on each project has made me want to increase the scale of each piece, possibly creating a new series with the unifying theme of monumentalism. My current piece “It Begins” starts to explode this idea. It depicts something that is at such an incomprehensible scale and power. The thought of a being like this emboldens humanity and the possibility of its greatness and power, but also terrifies us at the lack of control we have in comparison.

To find out more about Day Robertson check out their Instagram.