Robyn Dansie
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curriculum vitae

Name

Robyn Dansie

Email

robyn.dansie@gmail.com

Web

www.robyndansie.com

www.saatchiart.com/robyndansie

Lives

Born in Queensland, Australia, lived in Brisbane, Sydney & Melbourne; now resident in London and working from my studio in London since June 2018

Education

Studied in Brisbane and Melbourne

  • Brisbane Institute of Art - Design, Drawing, Painting, Etching, Art History
  • Diploma of Fine Arts Latrobe St College of Art & New Media – Melbourne (2002/3)
  • RMIT Designs of Drawing – Melbourne (2004)
Awards

Special Recognition - "I Only Have Eyes For You" - Light Space Time All Women Art Exhibition (January 2019)

Special Recognition - "Stella McCartney's Bag" - Light Space Time All Women Art Exhibition (September 2019)

Special Recognition - "I Will Always Love You" - Light Space Time All Women Art Exhibition (January 2020)

Special Recognition - "Faceless Parade" - Light Space Time 10th Anniversary Art Exhibition (October 2020)

Special Recognition - "David Hockney's Dog #1" - Light Space Time 10th Open Art Exhibition (November 2020)

Special Recognition - "OMG" - Light Space Time 10th All Women Exhibition (January 2021)

4th Place - Paint & Other Media "Perseverance Hotel" - Light Space Time 11th Open Art Exhibition (July 2021)

7th Place - Overall "Perseverance Hotel" - Light Space Time 11th Open Art Exhibition (July 2021)

Special Recognition - "Snow Flowers" - Light Space Time 5th Patterns Art Exhibition (September 2021)

Special Recognition - "Dreamscape" - Light Space Time 3rd Primary Colours Art Exhibition (December 2021)

Special Merit -  "City Lights" -  Light Space Time 12th Cityscape  Art Exhibition  (January 2022)

Special Recognition - "Something In The Air" & "Spring Renewal" - Light Space Time 11th All Women Art Exhibition (February 2022)

Special Recognition - "Fire & Brimstone" & "China Girl" - Light Space Time 12th Figurative Art Exhibition (May 2022)

Special Regonition - "Time To Let Go" - Light Space Time Summer 555 Art Exhibition (Summer 2022)

Special Recognition - "Forest" - Light Space Time 6th Patterns Art Exhibition (October 2022)

 

 

 

Biography

Robyn has always had the desire to re-create newness from worn, tired, or familiar objects or symbols. She attributes this to a respect for her surroundings and an ever-present and long-held belief that nothing should go to waste or be discarded simply because it has exhausted its initial purpose for being. Everything can and should be re-purposed and in doing so, something wonderfully unique, beautiful or challenging often results.

Robyn’s initial training in design, at both the Brisbane Institute of Art and the Latrobe College of Art in Melbourne, both in Australia, has cemented this view of the world as she observes, analyses and mentally re-constructs the images of the world around her.

Consequently, Robyn has successfully pursued the goal of re-purposing materials and images to create unique, and sometimes confronting, works that reveal totally new concepts about an object, an image or even a social belief. Where other people see commercial advertisements promoting the latest products, photos of picturesque landscapes, family portraits, useless ephemera items, even commercial documentation long past its use-by date or just simple, everyday trivial items, Robyn will see the makings of an art piece, capable of completely re-imaging the viewer’s understanding of the objects portrayed and used in the work.

Coupled with her understanding and respect for colour and its impact on the viewer’s reaction to a work, Robyn is able, through the re-imaging of these items, to transport the viewer to other worlds, other societal forms, and even totally new and foreign forms of life, relationships or beliefs. That the viewer may find the result uncomfortable or challenging is a bonus as such challenges are the building blocks for change in our, sometimes, chaotic world.

While what society calls art takes an almost infinite variety of forms, using an equally almost infinite supply of materials, Robyn has narrowed her form and techniques to paper, glue, paint and imagination, fed by the almost inexhaustible supply of material from every walk of life, promoting endless dreams, goals, desires, emotions, and mania. That these materials may have initially promoted ideas and concepts totally at odds with Robyn’s finished work only makes the transformation more exciting and demanding of the viewer’s attention and reactions. As a result, nothing is sacred in Robyn’s world and every image, object and media has multiple uses which can, even on completion, be re-imaged and used endlessly almost infinitely.

Robyn’s goal with her work is to promote the simple idea of uniqueness and wonder in the minds of the viewers of her work. The response of “Who would have thought of doing that…..?” as  a reaction to one of her works is the supreme compliment. That it may challenge and cause the viewer to question and review a concept, a standard, a prevailing notion or belief is a bonus. Robyn takes the greatest pleasure in knowing her work has been enjoyed and remembered.

Robyn has enjoyed considerable success in numerous solo and group exhibitions in her home town Melbourne and this has been a driving force in her desire to relocate and test her skills and ideas on a wider audience in the UK and Europe. She is happy to reflect on this success knowing a variety of her works are being enjoyed in private collections in places as widely scattered as Norway, France, UK, USA, New Zealand, Germany and of course her native Australia.

 

 

 

 

Profile

I enjoy working with the different elements and piecing them together to create some kind of logic and order. There is a fundamental pleasure in connecting images together to create something that did not previously exist. There is a landfill of ideas out there and a universe of nonsense that needs sorting.

I am drawn to artists who push the envelope, unafraid of producing works and images that may be confronting, but always thought-provoking. My main influences are Peter Blake, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Paul Klee, Joseph Cornell, Nick Bantock, Ray Johnson, James Jean, Raymond Pettibon

 

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Charles Smith Gallery - Fitzroy (2003)
Charles Smith Gallery – Fitzroy (November 2006)
Brunswick St Gallery - Fitzroy (April 2008)
Mario's Cafe - Fitzroy (June 2009)
Red Gallery - North Fitzroy (August 2012)
Mario's Cafe - Fitzroy (October 2012)
Jackman Gallery - St Kilda (February 2013)
Mario's Cafe - Fitzroy (April 2014)
Tacit Contemporary Art - Abbotsford (April 2015)
Red Gallery - North Fitzroy (February 2016)
Tacit Contemporary Art - Abbotsford (December 2016)

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Linden Post Card Show – St Kilda (2003)
Latrobe St College of Art & New Media (2003)
Dantes – Fitzroy (2003)
24 Hour View Space- Dantes - Fitzroy (2004)
Intrude - Fitzroy (2004)
Linden Post Card Show – St Kilda (2004)
Finalist RMIT Golden Key Exhibition – 4 Cats Gallery – Abbotsford (2004)
Contemporary Art Society of Victoria – Burnley (2004)
69 Smith St Gallery – Fitzroy (2004)
Linden Postcard Exhibition – St Kilda (2005)
69 Smith St Gallery - Fitzroy (2005)
Intrude Gallery - Malvern (November 2005)
PopShop Gallery - Melbourne (December 2005)
69 Smith St Gallery Fitzroy (December 2005)
69 Smith St Gallery Fitzroy (February 2006)
PopShop Gallery – Melbourne (June 2006)
Brunswick St Gallery – Fitzroy (April 2007)
Artholes Gallery - Fitzroy (April 2007)
Brunswick St Gallery – Fitzroy (June 2007)
Brunswick St Gallery – Fitzroy (August 2007)
Sydney 07 – Brunswick St Gallery (October 2007)
775 Art and Craft - Red Hill (2009)
Lioli Gallery - Camberwell (2009)
69 Smith St "69fifteen Exhibition"- Fitzroy (Nov 2013)
Brunswick St Gallery Small Works - Fitzroy (2014)
Kenilworth Art Prize Exhibition - Kenilworth (2014)
Linden Postcard Show - St Kilda (2014)
Burnley Art Show - Richmond (2014)
Linden Postcard Show - St Kilda (2015)
Brunswick St Gallery Small Works - Fitzroy (2015)
Linden Postcard Show - St Kilda (2016)
Brunswick St Gallery Small Works - Fitzroy (2016)
Red Gallery - North Fitzroy (December 2016)
69 Smith St Gallery - Fitzroy (December 2016)
Red Gallery - North Fitzroy (March 2017)
Parallax Art Fair - Kensington London (July 2018)
Roy's Art Fair - Southbank London (November 2021)

Private collections:
Australia, New Zealand, USA, UK, France, Norway, Germany