American artist Robert Crooks is something of a nomad, and not only in the itinerant sense. When he is not painting or collaging, he can most likely be found sailing the oceans, but he also wandered a meandering path to become the creator he is today.
Unlikely Origins
His journey began in a somewhat atypical manner – as a rugby player living in Hong Kong. The transition to a creative career came after Robert couldn’t find jeans long enough to fit his tall frame anywhere in the city. He took it upon himself to make his own, and – through this simple act of sewing – he took his first steps into the next phase of his life in the fashion industry.
Robert then moved to New York City and worked with the late accessories designer Carlos Falchi, a transition that had a major impact on his creative output; it was around this time that he began to paint, before later adopting collaging as a major element of his work. My style emerged from painting cityscapes, he says. I would go out every night and then I would go home and I would paint what had happened that evening. And I would paint again and again. I didn’t want to cover up what I had done so I would build upon it.
The Creative Process
Concurrently, Robert was poring over fashion publications to broaden his knowledge of the field. He began collecting images from advertising campaigns and fashion editorials to later use in collages, and would scour Craigslist for piles of old magazines from which to assemble his inventory. The first phase is building all of these collage materials, which was was an adventure in itself, Robert explains of his process. I go through the magazines finding colours – I call it mining – and then I rip all of these elements and that builds a colour palette.
Robert’s pieces are almost always large scale. Often they depict cityscapes, with vast swathes of sea and sky crafted from meticulously torn, colour-matched scraps of paper. When I’m not doing art I work as a captain and it’s a large part of what goes into my work. Water and sky play an important role for me, Robert tells us, going on to explain that being on the ocean gives him perspective.
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International Appeal
Initially, Robert’s art was only ever created for himself. That is, until mutual friends insisted that he meet Jaime Lau, director of Hong Kong-based gallery The Spectacle Group and the two immediately hit it off. I knew nothing about the gallery, very little about her experience, but at that point it was very important for me to work with people I connected with, he says, and just like that Jaime was offering not only her gallery space but the opportunity for a residency. He continues, It was a thrilling prospect, not just to have a show in Hong Kong but to also work in Hong Kong.
During a two-month residency in late 2016, Robert was prolific. Working with materials collected in Hong Kong, he embarked on his largest and most ambitious piece to date: an enormous billboard on the side of the gallery. Towering above pedestrians on the pavement and perhaps better viewed from the road, it is a labour of love and testament to Robert’s exceptional eye. Getting to do a piece of work on that scale and have it be outside was quite exciting, says Robert. I had been excited to work on it as a piece just for me, selfishly, but then working on it in the street I got to develop relationships with wonderful people walking by that became a part of the piece.
Art to be Lived With
As his reputation and knowledge of his work grows in his home country and beyond, Robert will soon return to Hong Kong to resume work on that piece and others. For so long, it’s been just been about me doing it, he says. Now to get to see my work in other people’s homes is so exciting. I just installed a piece in New York that was 13 feet tall, and to get to see it in someone’s home and to be a part of someone’s interior design is thrilling to me.
The post Robert Crooks is a multi-disciplinary artist who creates pieces to live with appeared first on Home Journal.
