We All Need a Hug (6) Roberta, Phoenix and Pablo Print

Roberta Young trained at Camberwell School of Art, then at Goldsmiths London University 1990-93. She has been represented by Cameron Contemporary Gallery in Hove since 2021 and has exhibited at several London Art Fairs. Her work is in many private international collections. Earlier this year, Roberta curated works from 7 artists in her Open House ‘Cats Creep’ in Brighton. Roberta’s paintings are inspired by her experiences and observations, most recently by her daily walks and exploration of the South Downs accompanied by her faithful disobedient dog, Pablo. She explores our connection with nature, our relationship with animals and what they reflect of ourselves. Working from sketches, memory and iPhone photos, Roberta’s light, fluid line conveys a vitality of the moment witnessed. Her ink works particularly come from a need to work spontaneously, intuitively and playfully. The hawthorn tree paintings are inspired by the forces of time and weather on the landscape. Roberta expresses the dramatic shapes of the trees and how the harsh wind coming up from the sea directs their growth and shape. Elemental energy materialised into form. Her playful humour is most obvious in the dog paintings, as they depict the darker/wilder side of nature. The shadows allude to subtler interior realities. The soppy domesticated dog can’t escape his inherited instinct to hunt and kill. Roberta’s figurative work reflects on how seemingly mundane moments in our lives can offer occasional fleeting revelations of who we are. She captivates moments of joy, of inner worlds of thought, of connection with others- whether animal or human. Roberta’s work is vibrant with movement, her use of line is dynamic and fluid. She combines luminous washes and solid blocks of colour with representational line drawing. Her colour palette explores colours which vibrate against each other, expressing an immediacy and an intensity.