From music to photography to resin art, contemporary artist Robbie Kaye sees her work as her journal.
My work is an expression of my soul and philosophy, and I don’t want to compromise that with outside pressure to please or sell. I practice “allowing” the muse to come through however she does, even if I don’t like it.
Robbie at BDG.
Take us to the beginning of your story. How did your tryst with art begin?
Born in Brooklyn, New York, my first experiences of life consisted of tall buildings and cement parks until my parents took me to Coney Island. Not only did I make my first encounter with adrenaline on a roller coaster, called the Cyclone, I also got to feel the sand on my feet and see that big beautiful ocean and sky.
With limited things to do in the city during summer months, my parents sent me to camp for two months a year. This camp was in the Catskill Mountains in New York and it was there that I played sports, created things in arts and crafts and experienced the joy of music.
These early childhood experiences have everything to do with who I am and what I create today. It is my goal to share that joy, that exhilaration I felt and still feel in nature, with every piece of artwork I design. They help me “slay my dragons”.
The opportunity to express myself creatively gave me the freedom to express myself and have a voice. I loved putting things together and singing and dancing… so freeing. When my parents divorced, at age 16, I found refuge in writing my own songs, playing the piano and making music with others. After a career in music, I transitioned to photography, where I could still compose, but more in textures and light, to create an end result, an image that conveyed a feeling, a narrative.
After professionally photographing for over 18 years, I transitioned to working with resin and acrylic paint. It definitely brought me back to my ‘roots’ in that crafts room, where I could explore and experiment with mediums and colours. And recently, to merge the mediums and delve into what that creates, has been exciting and unpredictable.
Drawn to expressing the beauty, intensity and fragility of life, my resin work, my newest art form to date, is the perfect medium as it combines these elements which result in either bold colours or subdued hues. I see my work as an ongoing journal, one that has provided me a voice to express what I otherwise might not.
Inspired by all things provocative in nature and life, I create photographs and resin paintings, sometimes merging the two, with a goal of producing beauty and intrigue. My work consists of landscape images, literal and abstract, that invite conversation and interpretation.
Whether I am making music, photographs or resin paintings, I see each process as a composition and collaboration, either with nature, the sea or people, subliminal or otherwise, as a way to offer a story about life and evoke interpretation.
Too Many Days Desert.
What is the primary role of an artist? How do you describe yourself in the context of challenging people’s perspectives via your work and art?
I believe that the role of an artist depends on the person who is creating art. For me, it is the way I journal my life experiences… first in music, then photography and now with resin and the merging of photography. My work depicts how I see the world and how I feel about it. My philosophy is usually apparent in the dissonance or harmony in the work I create. And hopefully, that invites the perspective of others to either relate or disagree, but there is always a conversation. I’m a deep thinker so I enjoy creating and viewing thought-provoking work. I see my role as a way to inject beauty into this world, to be a positive antidote to all the negatives that exists in our world.
How do you deal with the conceptual difficulty and uncertainty of creating work?
I have to be true to myself in order not to compromise the work I am creating. Letting go of the internal as well as external critic is an ongoing practice. My work is an expression of my soul and philosophy, and I don’t want to compromise that with outside pressure to please or sell. I practice “allowing” the muse to come through however she does, even if I don’t like it. Lately, I’m just exploring and giving myself the permission to suck, experiment and course correct, because I know it is leading to the core of what I want to say at that time. Sometimes, it doesn’t come out wham bam. There’s a process, a journey, an unfolding.
Let’s talk about the evolution of your practice over the years. Tell us about your commitment to your current medium.
When I was a musician, I loved rehearsals, no matter how long. I just loved the act of playing music with people. Because I find such incredible deep joy in creating, no matter the medium, spending time doing what I love and allowing what needs to come out is easy. So my commitment is always there. I’m not saying that there aren’t any hurdles or challenges, because there are plenty, but they are metaphors, like life – opportunities to see where I made a mistake and then keep trying and amend it somehow.
Let’s talk about your career. What were your biggest lessons and hiccups along the way?
I think one of my biggest lessons, and also my biggest hiccup, was realising that the most important thing is to trust my intuition, to be brave enough to not follow the herd, so to speak, and present my own voice through my work. I still struggle with this sometimes. The inner critic steps in and questions what I’m doing, and I have to be strong enough to keep going and not abandon myself, or what I’m working on, no matter the outcome. Of course, this changes when I am working on a commission. Then I am aiming to accommodate the needs of my client, which is sometimes easier.
What is your experience of the power of formative collaborations?
Pam Fischer is my high-performance coach and working with her translated into the work I create, more freely and with more risks. Liza Zhurkovskaya, instilled the essence of business, good practices and organisation as well as creative strategies and it has helped me exponentially in my career. Brittany Davis opened the door for this new work to be seen in a brand new gallery and a solo show. I feel very fortunate to have these amazing women on my team. They play an extremely important part in the growth and unfolding of my career and my being as well.
Let’s talk about your frameworks, references and process. What inspires you?
Nature inspires me: the ocean, mountains, and the fields. Also, the unsuspecting and overlooked inspire me. I am drawn to giving a voice to such things, including people, trees and my environment. I take photographs of them. For the people, I interview them to learn more. I study the subjects, visit the trees, the ocean, and the mountains.
What are you looking for when you look at other artists’ work? Who are your maestros?
When I look at others’ work, I like to be invited into a conversation and an interpretation of what the artist created. I like to see intensity and folly, at the same time or separately. Experiencing fun through an art piece is just as meaningful for me as seeing it as deep and philosophical. I was very moved when I visited the Georgia O’Keefe museum. Something about her work opened my eyes and perception of art. I am also an avid Cindy Sherman fan. I love and respect her work greatly. There is a very talented local artist here in the valley, Nancy Yaki, whose work is original and beautiful. I’d love to read about her process and philosophy. There are so many artists I revere and love to read about or watch documentaries about, like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Helen Levitt, Robert Frank, Andy Warhol, Henri Matisse, besides many musicians. They’re all inspiring to me.
The Wave. 2018.
How do you balance art and life?
My life, like most, is definitely a balancing act. I am an introvert who takes part in extroverted events like gallery openings, meetings, and social media interactions. I can easily isolate and spend a huge chunk of time in my studio producing or in front of my computer writing. It’s kind of symbiotic. I get my fill of socialising, communicating externally, travelling and then I have to go back into my cave to empty out, to translate, to think, and that’s when I grow and discover, in solitude.
What was your first sale? Do you handle the commercials yourself or is it outsourced to a gallery or an agent?
My first sale of my resin work was through the Brittany Davis Gallery. A couple from Santa Barbara bought it for their home. It was called You Are intense. It felt great since I had only been working in this medium for about a year.
I’m not sure what you mean about commercials. I have always had to market myself, as a musician as a photographer and now as a mixed media artist. I learned a long time ago that I can’t just sit back and expect my work to get the exposure I needs all by itself. However, I do notice that when I spend a lot of time marketing my work, writing copy for posts, calls, emails and so on, I have a lot less mind space to create. In essence, I think, like everything else, it’s a delicate dance between the two and the way I try to balance the two is by allowing myself to unplug and commit to being in the studio with very little social media or marketing on my mind. Then, I come out of the studio and go into marketing mode, so that I’m not trying to bite off too much at once.
How do you resolve the conflict between the commercial and the creative?
Usually, it’s more like a game of ping-pong. If I try too hard to please the general public artistically, it feels inauthentic and then I course correct, take a step back and get in touch with what really wants to be expressed even if it’s not all that commercial. The more I work, the more I feel like I am getting closer to expressing the work more authentically, with bigger risk and greater abandon. Then, of course, my insecurities sneak back in and I question it all, which I realise sounds wishy-washy, but in essence, it’s just part of the process for me. It pushes me to maintain my integrity as well as clarity about what I am creating.
Slay your dragons. Solo Show. 2019
How does your interaction with a curator, gallery or client evolve?
That’s a great question. If my gallerist requests a particular style of work, then it is my job to produce that on some level. After all, it is the gallerist who is presenting my work. Since I know that I can create other work as well, for myself or other galleries, it’s not a big deal for me. I have been fortunate in working with a great gallerist who tends to give me free a reign. So if she is particular about work that she would like to show, I feel good about creating with that in mind. In essence, it’s really no different than a commission. It’s great practice for me and I love the challenge.
Are you more of a studio artist or naturally collaborative by nature? How do you feel about commissions?
I love commissions and am happy to work from ideas with a client. I love it when a client asks me to create something wild in colour or something that will bring them peace and calm. I also love being in my studio, working on a theme, experimenting, and exploring. For me, it’s a very intimate experience that can be frustrating and also fun, but it still requires solitude for me to really let go.
Solo Show. BDG
How does your audience interact and react to your work? What is that one thing you wished people would ask you but never do?
I think my audience is on the journey with me. I’m sure they don’t love everything I put out there, but I think they enjoy sharing the ride and the evolution of it all. I find them to be supportive and encouraging. One thing I wished people would ask but never do would be, “What was going on for you when you made this piece?”
What are you working on now? What’s coming next season?
I’m really excited to be finishing a new collection of work entitled What Eyes See. I have merged my photography with my resin painting and hope to offer an interesting way of looking at the photographic subject, kind of like looking through a lens. I’m also working on another contemporary mix-media series called Life on the Road. I’ll be showing my photographic and resin work with the Brittany Davis Gallery at the Palm Springs Art Fair between Feb 13 and 17. I’m really looking forward to that and also to working on more commissions. I’ll be looking into museums for the new work as I think they should be seen as a collection and not necessarily displayed horizontally. The themes will include beauty, abstraction and humour, something I love a lot. It keeps me sane, like my art.
For enquiries contact: robbie@robbiekaye.com
Before you go – you might like to browse our Artist Interviews. Interviews of artists and outliers on how to be an artist. Contemporary artists on the source of their creative inspiration.