Robyn Bragg

Robyn Bragg
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

STATEMENT

I search out, cut up, and recombine found images to create evocative, symbolic representations of psychological experiences. My work is rooted in my love of storybooks, myths, and archetypal imagery. My practice is a part of the surrealist tradition, which uses the process of collage to connect to the world of dreams, emotions, and the unconscious.

I have two ongoing bodies of work:

1. Traditional hand-cut collage in colour—using found imagery from magazines, coffee table books, textbooks, and other ephemera.
2. Tactile mixed-media collage in black and white—combining photocopied 19th century engravings, my own drawings and photographs, and melted beeswax (encaustic). Using encaustic allows me to build up a three-dimensional surface and add texture by scraping, scratching, and paint application.

Both collections deal with the challenge of anxiety, which seeks protection from uncertainty and chaos within the certainty of order. I explore the shelter afforded by the ordered systems of architecture, grids, and patterns. I ask: when does enclosing oneself in safety become a prison, where one is afraid to break out and take risks? Can one step out of rigidity to be more free?

BIO

Robyn Bragg is a mixed media artist and mother of two living in Ottawa, Ontario. She has a BA in Psychology from the University of Guelph, and a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art. After a 20-year career as a graphic designer and user experience consultant, she is now a full-time artist. Her first solo show, “Worlds Within,” was hosted by the City of Ottawa Atrium Gallery in 2010. Her work has been published in Contemporary Collage Magazine and by the International Encaustic Artists. She has exhibited in Canada, the United States, and Finland.

She is a proud member of 44.4 Mother/Artist Collective, a group which challenges the isolation, exclusion, and lack of recognition faced by mother/artists within the arts community and society at large. It aims to address the societal norms and systemic barriers that diminish the visibility and value of mother/artists’ contributions.

ARTIST CONTACT
EMAIL | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM

IMAGES