Robin Siddall
Studio Art major, Mathematics minor
grief (n.) — sorrow, burden, weight, or longing derived from loss
My work is rooted in grief, in the idea of presence and absence—of people, of time, of place, of memory. While my own grief is not often the subject of my work, it is the underpinning of my practice, a driving force of why and how I create.
I work primarily in print and book arts, analog forms that require a surrendering of the self to process. The process of creation makes and unmakes me, attunes me to the present moment, opens me up to a reconfiguration of self, and allows me to heal. I am forced to spend time with and deeply examine my subject matter, whether that be drawn from my own experiences, community sourced material, or other channels of inquiry. This attention to time and the present is also a mode of challenging the rapid compression and loss of time in a society driven by efficiency and productivity. Working in physical media results in pieces that take time for both maker and viewer to process and understand. My work is a connection to the present moment and a reconnection to the body.
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Work Together
book arts, letterpress, papermaking, print
Click on the images to view them larger.
Work Together consists of three projects rooted in community sourced material.
THINGS I SHOULD HAVE SAID is a filing box of cards, holding anonymous admissions of things someone did not say that they feel they should have. In contributing to this project, these regrets are finally aired and cherished both by the artist in the process of creating the cards, and by the viewer as they thumb through the 100+ responses in the box.
LOVE IS, a series of 36 screenprints, displays anonymous descriptions of how someone defines or feels love. In its installation, the viewer may walk along this row, pausing to read intimate conceptions of love and care.
Traveling Journal grew organically out of the senior seminar group after Wellesley College transitioned to remote learning. Longing for a way to remain connected despite our physical distance, we came to the idea of a journal, mailed from one classmate to the next, in which we can share whatever we are thinking about or working on when we receive it. The journal is bound by hand and the covers are made from handmade paper repurposed from a project that was interrupted by the college's closing.
These three pieces embody the contributions of a group of people, without whom the work would not exist.
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