Roshni RobertClick here to see more...
My name is Roshni and that means "Light." Specifically, in Hindi, it is a ray of light. My father is from India and my mother is from the Pacific Northwest- where I, also have grown up.
I have been obsessed with light from an early age, thriving on the outdoors and the weather as my source of energy. The sun, or lack of sun in Western Washington, affects me daily, hourly- not the burning sun of India, but the clear sun here, cooler and more crisp. The Northwest light feels like it provides life rather than takes it away. I realize I see my parents in the same way, my mother being more cool and crisp and my father being more intense and sometimes scorching. I am somewhere in the middle. I have the emotional nature of my father and the utter lack of logic. I have the quiet, detail obsession of my mother. I am knit of some disparages, but they weave a strong fabric.
From an outdoor childhood came a companionship of nature which grew into an animistic perspective which I have carried even into the beginnings of my adulthood. I grew up an only child, in a log house in the country, with no one around save my mum and grandparents a few miles off. I saw my dad in the city once a week. The woods were my friends, the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains across the water and the dark black creatures of my nights. To me these where characters, not inanimate objects. They were the constants in my supernatural world. They changed predictably and I waited for those changes with the same excitement that I waited for my birthday or for my mum to get home from work. I cared for these characters and they cared for me. I noticed their individualities and nuances and became hyper-aware of the sounds of birds or the colour of an agate among the million stones on the beach. The feeling that everything was and is communicating with everything else, and also with me, is a major source of content in my painting and other artistic crafts. I feel obligated to acknowledge these constants. I thank them on paper, in textiles and in my garden. It is a mutual friendship. I draw and paint small, generally quiet, personal narratives. I employ natural elements; trees, animals and organic abstract shapes to convey my allegories. Using nature alongside fantastic elements allows me to be absolutely intimate with my subject matter while keeping it accessible to passers by.
What I do on a daily basis doesn't really fit in to my time and age. I live alone overlooking my grandparent's orchard and all of my friends nearby, but one, are at least ten years older than I am, mostly much older. I watch the sunrise, cook soup, paint, walk my dog, visit my mother. I don't know what's in theaters or on the radio, but I know what is in my yard- the deer, the flicker and the golden eye and they know me.
To submit work for 5 x 5 , email luara@greygalleryandlounge.com
Check out our blog for more information: 5 x 5 Information
Deadline for submissions is February 15, 2010
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