ARTIST STATEMENT
Found and reclaimed materials, abandoned by civilization or nature, are irresistible to me. These artifacts serve as markers on the map of my personal journey; the trail of breadcrumbs that define my path, and carry me forward. Each item is imbued with a remnant charge of its original function or owner, the moments surrounding its discovery, and my perception of it as something wondrously novel. I incorporate these materials and associations into my work, exploring points of physical, sensual, and conceptual tension.
In my manipulation of clay, fiber and found materials, I find myself working through events and experiences that provoke the deepest emotional responses in me. I can be confronting a case of personal loss or grief, or exploring a social issue that confuses, angers or inspires me. This framing can be the structure that dictates my choice of materials and process. But it can also remain completely indiscernible, even to my own busy hands. I often begin by exploring forms and fragments that I imagine or misperceive. These shadows in my periphery inspire figures that never could have been, but are vital references to my memory and experience. I call on this sort of adaptive resonance theory and playfully assemble, carve, stitch, and weave until something otherworldly, yet viscerally familiar almost breathes before me.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Gina Lee Robbins is an Indianapolis-based visual and teaching artist. She’s been working in clay for 30 years, stitching for 45, and picking up artifacts along waterways, wooded paths, city alleys and thrift shops for as long as she can remember. Largely self-taught, she creates objects and installations by manipulating clay and found or repurposed materials. Lee Robbins teaches process-oriented art making to groups of veterans, at-risk youth and other marginalized communities for Arts for Learning Indiana, the Indy Art Center and Arts with a Purpose.
Her work has been featured at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Harold Washington Library, Jack Olson Gallery at Northern Illinois University, Rockford Museum of Art, St. Xavier University Gallery, University of Wisconsin Union South Gallery, and SOFA Chicago, among others. She is an active artist member of Woman Made Gallery, National Women’s Caucus for the Arts, Chicago Sculpture International, and Mid-South Sculpture Alliance. Her sculptures can be found in private and corporate collections worldwide.
© Gina Lee Robbins