cameron byron roberts

Interview with the Artist

Artist Statement

Painting in the marshes of the Essex River on Boston’s North Shore, I learned to see light as it fell through the trees, reflected off the water, or lurked in the shadows of the creek. Back in the studio, I took what learned in the field to become a more abstract painter, inspired by the works of Mark Rothko, Anselm Kiefer, Gerhard Richter, Robert Ryman, and Agnes Martin.

Over time, paint became a partner to me. It has its own nature. Light, shadow and color, are the means by which we see the world, and through which memory and recognition emerge. From the very first layer, a painting will often tell me something, what it wants to be.  If I fight, it will resist, become unintelligible, or simply turn to mud.  At those moments, if I submit, the best paintings will sometimes show themselves to me.

My palette has become simplified over the years, employing no more than five or six pigments at a time. Two of these are usually dominant, determining the other pigments’ participation. Tools are from the hardware store, usually rough brushes, putty knives, squeegees, sponges and sandpaper. These prevent me from being fussy, and more importantly from interfering with how a painting wants to evolve.

"When you have all the answers about a building before you start building it, your answers are not true.  The building gives you answers as it grows and becomes itself." Louis Kahn