Robin Hextrum: Reimagining the Sublime Will Be Presented Next Month at Abend Gallery

Abend Gallery has announced Robin Hextrum's solo exhibition "Reimagining the Sublime''. The newest body of work by this Denver based artist entreats viewers to a natural haven of brightly colored botanicals and wild animals. Departing from the traditional landscape, where the Sublime refers to the ways we can control and subvert nature, Hextrum plays with the idea of the Feminine Sublime, a concept that she says, "considers how our relationship to nature is ever evolving, uncertain, and chaotic."

An ode to the natural world, Hextrum paints larger than life blossoms with fractured backgrounds of color, a reference to the fracturing of our environment due to climate change. Although uncertainty about the collective future is palpable in her paintings, the overarching themes of healing and transformation soothe the turbulent compositions. Hextrum believes that these paintings do not offer solutions or answers but they instead allow their viewers to sit with and meditate on these feelings of uncertainty.

Hextrum's work derives inspiration from recent social, political, and environmental upheavals. The work responds to these instabilities, while also carving out new possibilities for moving forward. Drawing heavily from Dutch still life masterpieces, many works embody a contemporary version of the vanitas theme, which is a reminder of our mortality.

Robin Hextrum is a contemporary oil painter who lives and works in the Denver area. She grew up in a small coastal town called Stinson Beach in Northern California where she developed a passion for the natural environment. During her undergraduate studies at USC she completed a double major in Fine Art and Neuroscience while also rowing on the Varsity Women's Crew Team. Following this diverse experience, she studied at Laguna College of Art and Design where she received her MFA in painting.

She then completed a second Master's degree in Modern and Contemporary Art History at UC Riverside.

Robin Hextrum has exhibited her paintings across the country and is the recipient of grants from The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation and The Stobart Foundation.