Robyn Packham
Under the Laurels is a group exhibition that brings together a diverse group of artists. How does your work connect to or contrast with the themes of the exhibition, and what does being part of this show mean to you?
Robyn - I am thrilled to be part of this exhibition as I have a great deal of admiration for the other exhibiting artists and when researching Dora Carrington, I found she was born in Herefordshire where my family moved in 2011. It’s funny how such a small detail can make you feel much more connected to an artist and their work. There is an honesty to Dora Carrington’s artwork that I strive for in my own painting, while themes of intimacy and female identity also resonate with my work.
Your practice often explores human interaction and the natural world. Could you share how these themes have come to be so significant?
Robyn - I am interested in fleeting moments in time and how these interactions mirror the transience of the natural world. These themes stem from my upbringing in the countryside, reading folk tales as well as my fascination with archaeology and how clues of past human life are hidden in the landscape waiting to be discovered, or that are forever absorbed into the earth.
You describe your paintings as “windows into an acutely ephemeral world” with the female figure as a “strong and defiant presence.” Can you tell us how these concepts evolved?
Robyn - After I graduated from my BA in 2020 I effectively became my Mum’s companion / carer as she had terminal cancer and was only given a year to live back in 2014. She in fact lived for a defiant 8 years. She was a talented painter and inspired me to want to become an artist when I was a child, before I really understood what one was. A few years later when I started studying art, the school curriculums would focus on male artists, so it has taken some time to wrap my head around what it is to be a working female artist. My Mum’s resilience and strength runs through my work and keeps me working hard at figuring it out. From this background the themes of ephemerality and the strong female figure has emerged.
Memory and grief are also central themes in your work. How do you translate such personal and emotional experiences into visual narratives?
Robyn -Death, grief and memory are emotional themes, but they’re also universal things we all have in common at some stage. It is part of the human condition and part of life, and I strive for my artwork to be full of life. This can be through use of colour, but also through depictions of familiar or relatable scenery and objects. Similarly, I think Dora Carrington’s work is full of these intimate moments of life and its fluidity.
Your work seems to traverse the boundary between the physical world and what lies beyond it, would you say there is a spiritual element to your work?
Robyn - There is a nod to something bigger, along the lines of a spiritual element in my work. Invisible connections, grief, symbolism, female bonds and the moments between moments; memories and repetitions; the self – all non-physical things that I consider.
Can you tell us about memories of growing up in rural Herefordshire and any influences you feel have stayed with you?
Robyn - The tranquillity of home definitely finds its way into my work and scenes often appear peaceful and dreamlike. Herefordshire is an ancient, picturesque landscape and has many iron age hillforts dotted around it which we would often walk to, while the Golden Valley is the home to prehistoric burial chambers hailing it as a once sacred place. Arthur’s Stone is one such monument and my Mum and I would go on drives to it as we sang along to Aha’s ‘Take on Me’ loudly in the car. Arthur’s Stone gets its name from a legend of King Arthur killing a giant upon the stone, leaving the impression of his elbows on one of the stones as he fell. We would sit and draw it and simply enjoy the incredible view up there. Mum wanted her ashes to be left nearby, so to this day it remains a sacred place.
What are you reading at the moment?
Robyn - I’m currently going between Hettie Judah’s latest book ‘Acts of Creation – On Art and Motherhood’ and ‘The Other Side: A Journey into Women, Art and the Spirit World’ by Jennifer Higgie. ‘Oh To Be a Painter’ is a little collection of essays by Virginia Wolf that I’m also dipping into.
Your practice incorporates a mix of drawing, acrylic, and oil painting. Can you talk about your creative process from the initial gathering of sketches and memories to the final piece?
Robyn - Drawing is integral to my artwork as it allows me to think through ideas visually. I keep sketchbooks where I draw from life and my surroundings and these observations trickle into my painting. I used to draw something from life and then paint it. While there is nothing wrong with that, I now feel that the intuitive qualities of making drawings from life is something that can’t be replicated through painting, or perhaps it simply doesn’t need to be replicated. Increasingly I draw from memory and my imagination when putting ideas together for a painting. I love watching films and enjoy piecing together drawn imagery to form my own scenes of layered charcoal, acrylic and oil paint.
Looking ahead, how do you see your exploration of themes like identity, womanhood, and the human condition evolving? What future directions do you envision for your work, both in terms of subject matter and technique?
Robyn - Hair as a symbol of identity and mother/ daughter relationships continues to feature in my work. This has led me to think more about clothing and textiles as a prop for identity, and how pattern can denote specific places and stories. Much of my work references the outside world but depicts personal interior spaces, so it will be interesting to see how this may unravel.
Do you have a favourite work by Dora Carrington and if so, what draws you to it?
Robyn - I love her intimate portraits as you can get a real sense of the relationships she had with her sitters. In particular her portrait of Lytton Strachey reading.