Marc Robarge
My process is a complex interplay of my fascination with the natural world, the poetics of found objects and the open ended dialogue between these things I find, or are given, and how they are recycled and recombined into unorthodox forms which at once pay homage to the origins of the object and simultaneously inhabit a space that seems just adjacent to this world.
My practice explores biomorphic forms generated by a process that includes materials and techniques that are an amalgamation of my experiences as an artist and teacher, and the woodshop skills learned first from my father, then other mentors along the way. I recycle and employ natural materials such as wood, bark, found natural objects, burls, stones, and branches along with manufactured
plaster and wood shapes, using woodworking, carpentry and construction methods that are associated with craft traditions but I combine them in an experimental cross pollination of techniques.
I'm connected to my materials in a number of ways. For example, last summer's dericho damaged an historic Sycamore tree near my house, and scattered large branches over a local playground, I took the opportunity to provide community service by cleaning up the playground while harvesting the wood whose sinuous line I've incorporated into my recent work.
After spending much of the last twenty years raising my two children I have in the past two years been able to rekindle my studio practice and have shown in local galleries as well as being selected for a solo show at the Fredericksburg Creative Center for the Arts in June 2013.
- Artist's resume
- First Friday photos:
