Artist
One's art is just one's effort to wed oneself to the universe, to unify oneself through union.
—Robert Motherwell
THE ARTIST
Elements of what Robin said in his thesis in 1971 rang as a theme until the end. His approach to art was the same as his approach to everything. He expressed himself on canvas all through his life, eventually enclosing a herd of mustangs in one of his circles. He has always been a man of few words. His thesis was the shortest in the history of Miami University, founded in 1809. Extra blank pages had to be added so that it could be professionally bound. Robin was a quiet man, but he was bold. As he said in his thesis, “I leap into color.”
Robin refrained from talking about his paintings, even in graduate school. He said his paintings and art spoke for themselves. His Artist’s Statement explains his approach.
Above-Robin at ski basin, Santa Fe / Photo Connie Doughman
Left /Top to Bottom
Conundrum / 60”x60” Acrylic on Canvas 1985 Photo Alan Gould
Hole in the Sky / 60” x 60” Acrylic on Canvas 2010 Photo Alan Gould
Yellow Bird Sun / 60” x 60” Acrylic on Canvas 1986 Photo Alan Gould
Mother Moon / 60” x 60” Acrylic on Canvas 1970 Photo Mildred Doughman
Hunter’s Moon / 60” x 60” Acrylic on Canvas 1971 Photo Mildred Doughman
Right /Top to Bottom
Untitled / 60” x 60” Acrylic on Canvas 1987 Photo Alan Gould
Key Hole Sky / 60” x 60” Acrylic on Canvas 1988 Photo Alan Gould
Full Moon Over NM / 60” x 60” Acrylic on Canvas 1989 Photo Alan Gould
Untitled 60” x 60” Acrylic on Canvas 1971 Photo Mildred Doughman
Father of Sun 60” x 60” Acrylic on Canvas 1971 Photo Mildred Doughman
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
From the living fountain of instinct flows everything that is creative; hence the unconscious is not merely conditioned by history but is the very source of the creative impulse.
—C G Jung
My art has a beginning in reality. I have a personal visual experience of a natural phenomenon, an actual moment in time that I just happened to be witness to. I then involuntarily re-experience those moments in a dream state. The creative process opens during these times to form irresolvable illusions based on circles. The circle of life, the circle of time and space, the circle of the world in which we live appear during the re-experience. I use a square to hold my circles, thinking of the square as a shaped canvas with neither east-west or north-south axis but rather implying a natural balance to life. It connects me to spirit. It connects me to inner self and it connects me to outer world; a completeness.
—Robin Doughman