Today we’d like to introduce you to Darrah Robinson.
Hi Darrah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was raised in the diverse art culture of San Francisco where I worked in fine art museums and attended an arts focused public high school in the city called Ruth Asawa School of the Arts. I continued my education at UC Santa Barbara at the College of Creative Studies where I worked closely with two professors throughout my education. I graduated toward the end of quarantine when my campus was still closed, so I hosted my first solo show at The Drawing Room Gallery in San Francisco. I exhibited my thesis show – ‘Feeling Quarantine’ there instead of the school gallery. I had a huge turnout, this was the first event many people had attended in person in over two years. This was the catalyst for me to start hosting my own shows. My next series- ‘Subway Hands’ I painted and show in Santa Cruz. I have hosted many First Friday events and was selected to show my art at the County Building. A piece from this series was also selected to show at the Monterey Museum of Art Biennial in 2025. I currently work as chef and a fine art painter while I live in Santa Cruz and continue to build community here.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My largest obstacle to date was certainly the pandemic. I had just begun my final year of college which was entirely focused on creating my thesis show and suddenly I lost everything. With campus closed, I couldn’t meet with my professors to discuss my work, I no longer had access to a painting studio, all my peers moved away, the gallery where I was planning to show my thesis show was closed. All of my community and tools that I had been working with suddenly disappeared. I could not graduate without this show and the approval of my professors so I had to make it work. I moved back to the bay area to live with my family. I found a family friend’s garage I could paint in. I sent photos of my progress to my professors. I created my entire thesis show alone in a garage. I had no outside input other than what my professors could help me with from afar which was minimal. When I finished my show I emailed my professors and asked if I could drive my paintings and set them up for them to see them. They were quite surprised at my sheer will and initiative. They were able to see my work, one at a time, they gave me feedback, and I was approved to graduate. After I took my paintings home to the bay area, I went out into the art community I grew up with in the Mission in San Francisco and I found a gallery that was willing to let me show my work. I worked out a deal with the owner, I hung all my art, I made fliers and posters, I let everyone know about my opening- and everyone showed up. People from my entire life growing up in San Francisco were there, from classmates to families I babysat for. This was the first event anyone had been to in person since quarantine had started. We were masked up, we kept our distance, we made sure only a few people were inside at once, but people were finally together- and I brough them together through art. I received a ton of feedback from my community about how they related to my quarantine-themed paintings. This obstacle was very important, it reinforced to me how much I love art and community, it taught me how to be my own advocate and motivation, it taught me how to look forward when everything was so uncertain. I am grateful for the skills I learned and the strengthened connection I gained with my community and my professors.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in figurative work. I am interested in the relationships between color and shape on 2D surfaces. I aim to make work that is easily legible to the public, not just those trained in how to look at art. My most recent series ‘Subway Hands’ was a meditation on spending time with strangers. I grew up taking public transportation in San Francisco and when I moved to Santa Barbara I felt this loss in sense of local community. I felt like I didn’t get to say goodbye to all the people that were part of my daily community in the city, the people I saw daily or weekly and never spoke to or only ever spoke to briefly. When we were all in quarantine I decided to make paintings about this feeling. I wanted people to think about the ‘strangers’ we see regularly and how not seeing them anymore affects us as a community. I was worried about how being quarantined would affect our sense of community – and how we can still connect to community when we are not seeing any other people anymore. This led me to paint ”portraits” of people’s hands on public transportation. Sure enough, when people saw these paintings, they didn’t always see strangers. Many people would say ‘these hands look like my dads’ or someone else they knew. I wanted to remind people that we are all connected and the ‘strangers’ we see are someone else’s dad or friend or sister, and they are part of our larger local community. Being connected to them matters as much as being connected to our family and friends.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Podcasts: The Great Women Artists, Otherworld, Crime Junkie, Good Hang, Maintenance Phase, ‘Baby, This is Kiki Palmer’, Tara Brach
Books: ‘How to Be an Adult in Relationships’ by David Richo, ‘Radical Compassion’ Tara Brach, my collection of artist books including: David Hockey, Richard Diebenkorn, Joan Brown, Alex Katz, Edward Hopper, Ruth Asawa, Henri Matisse, and more
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.darrahrobinson.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourlocaldarrah/?hl=en
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrah-robinson-4b4002213/
