Rebecca Roberts
is committed to abstraction, having always been more interested in making paintings about things than paintings of things. Roberts is influenced by light and color in the natural environment, observed while daydreaming out windows, sitting by the ocean, and walking along the Charles River. Her studio practice is rooted in exploring color, composition, and the illusion of depth.
Roberts’ recent paintings are made of one section, or stripe of color, at a time, increasing in opacity, from the center out. This system allows her to “weave” the colors together, making small shifts from band to band, so the light at the center remains, and the image as a whole, sparkles. The colors come from photos of her daily life which are analyzed for hue, intensity, and amount. “Depending on what kind of day I’ve had, I work to control my breathing to make the straightest lines and edges I can. I rely on the process of repetition to take me on a journey toward the resulting image which, in the end, is a result of hundreds of choices about color relationships. The more surprised I am at the end, the better. Standing in front of the paintings, viewers have a similar experience, like wandering through a space, looking through a window, or walking through a door.”
