Born is 1960, Robi showed talent at a young age for music. This was a passion that would see him performing professionally by 12 and receiving a number of Australia music awards by his mid twenties, including a Australia Variety Artist Award (Mo Award) and 2 nominations.
Leaving the music industry at 30 to spend more time with his family, Robi turned to the I.T. industry to make a living and soon had a successful career as a software designer.
In early 2007 Robi decided to try his hand at painting. Something he had wanted to do for many years but had never found the time.
The result was an instant love affair with the medium...
"Like most white collar middle class families growing up in Australia in the 60’s, we had the standard faded Albert Namatjira print hanging in the dining room. We were lucky in that we had not one but two. I remember thinking to myself, “I just don’t get it, what’s all the fuss”. Many years later I was browsing through a small highly priced gallery in Sydney and there sitting on the floor in the corner, something amazing caught my eye. It was an original Namatjira and it was stunning. I finally got what the fuss was all about! I had never seen the bush in such beautiful and depth of color. I look at this as the start of my love of art. I have been painting now for nearly 4 years and have been fortunate to have several exhibitions of my work on the Gold Coast and Brisbane. I only use oils, as this gives me more freedom to move the paint around and allow the work to give hints on what it wants next.
Although I have a rough idea of what the work will look like when finished, the truth is that through the process of painting it always ends up taking on a life of its own. I am not a figurative artist. Nor do I try to be. But rather I like to distort the figures, change around the colors and let the work breathe."
I hope you enjoy this work. Cheers, Robi
