In 2003, Holly Roberts took a hiatus from art making
after more than twenty years of working with the painted photograph.
When she returned to the studio in 2004, her working method moved
in a startling new direction. Narrative scenes appeared on top of
her painted surfaces -- a reversal of her previous approach, for which
she has garnered tremendous success.
These changes can also be seen in her newest narratives.
Where earlier pieces reflected psychological or emotional undercurrents,
newer works make use of familiar or iconic stories to address tougher
questions about man's effect on the land and the animals that inhabit
it. This can be seen in a number of pieces including River Styx, in
which a man stands on a boat made of cracked mud sailing on a dry
river bed of pine needles, a lone bird perched on a wooden sail; Bird
with Nest, in which a roosting bird sits in a concrete graffitied
nest sandwiched between barren tree limbs; and Cow Grazing, in which
a cow's innards reveal the arid stricken landscape in which it resides.
What is apparent from viewing Roberts' latest work
is that no matter how much she has changed, some things remain the
same: an intrigue with the photo, a love of paint and a desire to
state simple truths in an original way.
