Artist Statement
I paint with all I know and all I feel, with a driving force of love and hate, picking up what ever is around me and tearing it up. I illustrate to create new worlds. My works begin with impressions, and I am guided by hand and instinct. As the work unfolds, it is unconfined by convention, and led by contrast and colour. The abstract dominates my work and I create without limitations.
My background in illustration and graphic design informs my work – whether it is freestyle intricate ink drawings, or large scale mural art. I do what I do because it’s part of me. Using a ‘stream of consciousness’ approach, my day to day experiences are shaped into a narrative, reflecting mood and energy. Forms can take shape as sculpted timber cityscapes, or dream like moments, captured in neon and darkness. My work gestates from city streets, industrial landscapes, laneways and back alleys. The more I create, the stronger the desire to create becomes.
There is no greater foundation to my works, than the contrast between black and white. I will work with anything I can get my hands on. The work dictates the medium – cardboard, wood or canvas, ink, paint or photographs – whatever is around me at the time. Layering with bold colours, shading with greys, and adding texture and perspective, allows me to fully express the depth of whatever it was that inspired me in the first place. The work takes on a life of it’s own, and can only be complete as long as my approach remains wonderfully free.
I want people to wonder, to contemplate, to feel and to remember and I want to achieve this through sharing my work with them, living and breathing the message, that art makes the world a better place.
Bio
“My work’s about human connections, past and present. A forever forward moving presence, a life force in motion, a complex relationship with chaos and balance ” ~ Brad Robson 2013
Starting out as a mechanical engineer, Brad Robson always knew there was a more creative future ahead for him. In the early 2000’s he added small business management, and web design to his skillset.
This motivated him to extend the practice of his work in 2003 into freelancing, before deciding to commit to an artistic career path in 2008 with a Diploma of Graphic Arts and Advertising at Commercial Arts Training College (CATC), Sydney.
His success as a student at CATC led to a teaching gig with them in 2009, which Brad felt was ‘…a great opportunity to inspire fellow creatives through teaching.’
Brad’s freelance work has gone from strength to strength and over the past few years he has produced some exciting commissioned works. Brad’s work can be seen larger than life in a number of local bars and cafes around Sydney’s inner west, and more recently, in the offices of SBS’ STVDIO/World Movies offices. Using a combination of art and cinematic imagery, Brad’s mural reflects the innovative global nature of the channels, and reinforces their brand identity to all that enter the workspace.
His creative experience was further developed in mid 2011 with a residency in Illustration and Visual Storytelling at the School of Visual Arts in New York. The time spent here gave him the opportunity to meet and work with other artists and realize the vast array of possibilities that exist for artists on an international scale.
With past exhibitions at Platform 72, Art Expo Sydney and upcoming group and solo show in Brooklyn, NYC, there is no doubt that Brad Robson’s creative output will continue its reach locally and internationally.
Influenced by his life experiences, Brad approaches his art without restrictions and believes ‘being independent and progressive are the keys to his art practice’.
Brads is also a director of Kaleidoscope gallery in Sydney, a contemporary art space dedicated to exhibiting emerging and mid career artists from Australia and beyond.