Robin Roi
A deep connection to the decorative arts has been a huge influence on my career as both a painter and a ceramic artist. This has often led to the investigation, study and application of decorative painting which has in turn fed and nurtured my fine art studio practice.
Since receiving my BFA in printmaking at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and an MFA in painting from Claremont Graduate University in California I have maintained a studio practice along with a varied career as teacher, designer, art director, gallerist, project manager and decorative painter.
In 1977, after a three year stint as Visiting Artist for the North Carolina Arts Council, I moved to New York where I was able to further my commitment to both the fine and the applied arts. Working at The Drawing Center, The American Crafts Museum and The Heller Glass Gallery provided ample opportunities to immerse myself in both worlds, as did exhibiting my "Pattern Paintings" with Barbara Gladstone Gallery in N.Y. and Bruno Bischofberger in Switzerland.
In 1983 I began a long and rewarding career as Director of Decorative Painting with Evergreene Architectural Arts in NYC. My fine arts background and passion for the decorative arts were a perfect marriage for the position that I held for 32 years. During my tenure, I designed and invented hundreds of decorative finishes for public buildings and private residences, led gilding workshops, lectured, published articles and advised architects and interior designers around the country.
My fine art work, under the moniker “RobRoi Design” has taken many forms over the years. The ceramic work I’ve done, both functional and sculptural have highly decorated surfaces filled with patterns culled from a lifetime of researching and collecting old wallpapers, historic stencils, textiles, dressmaking patterns, wrapping papers and other “flotsam and jetsam”.
My painting and mixed media work also have a strong foundation in pattern, though my concerns are more narrative and biographical. With references to botanic, historic and multi-cultural patterning and layered with personal symbols and imagery, the work provides depth both visual and metaphorical. My long-standing passion for pattern, whether in nature, human nature or the man-made world provides constant inspiration for all my work and is often the scaffolding beneath the narrative.