grief (n.) — sorrow, burden, weight, or longing derived from loss

My work is rooted in grief, in the idea of presence and absence—of people, of time, of place, of memory. While my own grief is not often the subject of my work, it is the underpinning of my practice, a driving force of why and how I create. 

I work primarily in print and book arts, analog forms that require a surrendering of the self to process. The process of creation makes and unmakes me, attunes me to the present moment, opens me up to a reconfiguration of self, and allows me to heal. I am forced to spend time with and deeply examine my subject matter, whether that be drawn from my own experiences, community sourced material, or other channels of inquiry. This attention to time and the present is also a mode of challenging the rapid compression and loss of time in a society driven by efficiency and productivity. Working in physical media results in pieces that take time for both maker and viewer to process and understand. My work is a connection to the present moment and a reconnection to the body.

Artist Bio

Robin is a printmaker and book artist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a recent graduate of Wellesley College, where she majored in studio art and minored in math. She spent most of her time at Wellesley as a math major, but fell in love with hands-on work after taking a class in Wellesley’s Book Arts Lab, where she first learned letterpress printing, bookbinding, and hand papermaking. While taking more classes in printmaking and book history, she developed a particular interest in teaching hands-on skills through working in the Book Arts Lab. She has presented at Wellesley College’s Ruhlman Conference in Spring 2018 (The Enduring Art of Book Making) and Spring 2019 (Books and Their Readers: An Exhibition on the History of the Book). Recently, she has shown work in the Boston Printmakers 2019 Student Print Exhibition and HERETHERE, Wellesley College’s Senior Arts Show.