Robin Ross

“I paint bodies as mist, light, ghosts and winged beings, as wind,” says Robin Ross, who is best known for her “spirit paintings” referenced from photographs of people posing as their totem animals. “I try to relay what grounds us to stay earthbound.” In Ross’s works, ethereal figures float across monochromatic, richly hued backgrounds, alone or in pairs, sometimes fully formed and other times consisting only of isolated body parts. In Holding Blue (2007) for instance, a pair of outstretched arms envelop an amorphous white form that evokes an intense vision of light. Inspired by philosophical reflection following a near-death experience, Ross addresses “themes of existence and persistence by exposing the light and energy that I recognize,” as she describes. Her oil paintings emanate an otherworldly glow, achieved with layers of paint and glaze. Their brushstrokes, sense of movement, and deconstruction of forms variously recall the work of Edgar Degas and Georges Braque, both of whom she admires.