Oliver Robb
Oliver Robb celebrates material and traditional techniques extracted from the artisan. Not unlike William Morris, Robb is driven by the idea of a symbiosis between conceptual and manual work. Robb is interested in the refinement of object making, but also the manipulation and assemblage of an eclectic mix of materials. This conjunction of disparate elements was typical of the objects made by the British Surrealists in the 1930s such as in the works of Paul Nash & Roland Penrose. Within Robb's sculptural work there is soapstone carved hand, which is a direct copy of a piece of 18th century heraldic jewelry. In addition to this glass paint used more within the decorative crafts is manipulated in a way to produce a much more prolific stained glass effect. Although much of Robb's works look elaborately hand -crafted he combines metaphorical objects with a combination of semi-abstract forms, which frequently are derived from found objects.
