Paintings by Nadine Robbins - Alluring Nudes, Lush Portraits, and Erotic Oysters

Alluring Nudes, Lush Portraits, and Erotic OystersPaintings by Nadine Robbins American painter Nadine Robbins’ contemporary style is distinguished by a masterly command of academic painting techniques paired with an irreverence for rules, gender and beauty. Much of the painter’s practice focuses on themes of defiance, and a singular form of eroticism that is presented from a new and unexpected perspective. In particular, Robbins has earned great admiration for her iconoclastic nudes, as well as an ongoing series of portraits that oscillate between the mysterious and the candid. There is also a remarkable group of oyster still life paintings that in their lush precision seem to achingly intersect genres of eroticism and the still life. Overall, Robbin’s use of luscious jewel toned paint and high-fidelity realism ties the artist to the late twentieth century and contemporary traditions of hyper-realism, photo-realism, and super-realism. Like Chuck Close, the artist uses a similar photographic and painterly process to produce dynamic contemporary portraits. Robbins’ montage-like use of atelier technique and way of working adds to the oeuvre, a studied complexity that is enticing and refined. It can be said that Robbin’s work is decidedly at the intersection of identity politics presenting the feminine form in new and unexpected ways, allowing a dynamic to evolve between the viewer and the viewed, and as well upsetting the traditional roles of the male gaze and the feminine subject. This inversion of accepted norms and structures of power is related to a trend in contemporary art, seen in current practitioners such Kehinde Wiley wherein the artist’s painting of ordinary people is set within symbolic structures and emblematic themes. Robbins for her part uses the genre of portraiture and nudity to express a similar sense of irreverence for societally assigned roles, and as well uses her work to evoke a feminine perspective or sense of sexuality, eroticism and self.

I Will Survive - Nadine Robbins

Artist Gin Stone was a friend of the owners of The Frying Pan Gallery in Wellfleet MA and I approached her on Facebook about painting her. She had these amazing dark blue eyes, was an artist, and a strong, confident, and authentic woman who had no problem being nude. We instantly connected. So I went to Cape Cod to photograph her in her studio. There were props everywhere and she wasn’t shy. I choose this image because it represented her as an avid environmentalist and fighter for doing the right thing whether it be marching on Washington or supporting a friend in need. The axe was a perfect symbol of her strengths and the pose fit her candid and outspoken personality. The bracelet was made out of retired fishing line which is the tapestry of her sculptures. She is powerful and invincible. This painting is part of the Count Ibex Collection.

State of Mind - Nadine Robbins

This self portrait is the result of an exceptionally difficult year. During a bout of deep depression about the world, aging, and my career, I posed in my studio to create a self portrait that would reflect my state of mind. Defiance has been present in my work but what I was feeling that day was more. I was fed up and angry and I wanted to create a painting that expressed the intensity of my emotions. I’m raw, provocative, beastly, and vulnerable and I want the viewer to see my true self. The painting pushes beyond high-realism into exaggerated detail to express the intensity of my existential crisis.

Sativa Sunrise - Nadine Robbins

This painting is the third of a series called "Full Disclosure" (Bad Habits and Guilt Pleasures) about the human essence we often mask in society revealing what tends to be obscure and romances social defiance. Taboos are released and made playful, honest, and sensual. When I asked Kaitlyn, the model, what her bad habit was, she was quick to answer "I smoke too much pot". I immediately got excited since I felt this was truly honest a unique subject. I asked her ahead of time to get some leaves so I could put them in a bouquet, an idea that was inspired by an article about weddings in Colorado who have been using Marijuana in wedding bouquets. So I set about photographing Kaitlin in her very dark apartment. We huddled close to the best light in the room. She lit up and I started shooting but smoking a joint wasn't as good as I expected on camera, nor was the bouquet idea. So I placed some sticks on the backside of the leaf to keep it from lilting and placed it in her hair. Kind of like a trippy 60’s thing. Through the miracle of photoshop, there was one image that stood out of the rest and was too dark but I was able to fix the exposure. I never intended the image to look like a modern-day Vermeer but this happy mistake was what I always look for in my images.

Davida - Nadine Robbins

Michelangelo's "David" is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture. Usually depicted by other artists as victorious over Goliath, this statue catches David at the precise moment he has made the decision to fight Goliath, a moment between conscious choice and action. He is a heroic male nude. My painting called “Davida" is the female version of the statue of “David”. My favorite model, Kaitlin, once again gave me something that neither of us expected. She’s not pouting or being overtly sexual like you would see in an advertisement. She's depicted at the precise moment she has let her guard down and stopped being a model. She’s raw, confident, emotional, and, as opposed to Michelangelo's statue, vulnerable. An emotion I see as a strength. She is heroic in her own right.

The Golden Hour - Nadine Robbins

I had plans to paint all Summer but I was feeling a bit stressed and uninspired. That's when my good friend Diane, from Amsterdam, told me about Niksen. Niksen is a Dutch practice where you learn to do nothing. Diane had a back injury that left her unable to walk for 6 months. So she took it upon herself to practice Niksen as a way to pass the time. I listened to my friend and took July off, did absolutely nothing, and discovered that it was exactly what I needed to be inspired to try something new. During her months in bed, Diane read a lot of books about creativity. One book that stood out was the biography of Yayoi Kusama "Infinity Net". In it, Kusama describes how she began to see hallucinations of field of dots as a child and her way of coping with the bizarre phenomena was to paint what she saw and use these dots as a trademark motif. My friend told me the book hit home as she also battled her own demons and depression. I could relate. Once I got back to work in August and Diane was able to slowly walk again, I wanted her to help me with a photo shoot with my new model Lauren. I thought it would do her good to get out of her house. What she didn't know is that I had secretly bought a piece of fabric with black dots hoping she would let me photograph her wrapped in it, safe from the world outside. Thankfully she said yes. Back in the studio, I was inspired to change things up a bit and started working with a new palette made of strong bright colors. This strength combined with Lauren's delicate nature and Diane's vulnerability created a duality that emphasizes the emotional spectrum that women live with.

Lady Marmalade - Nadine Robbins

In the 1970’s, every Saturday one of my favorite shows “Soul Train” came on. The host, Don Cornelius would introduce a new guest who would perform the latest hit song while dancers moved and grooved. I loved the rhythms and funk, the steady disco beat, and the stylish clothes. I desperately wanted to be on the show or go to a disco. But I wasn’t old enough. I had no control over my life. So I could only fantasize of being a star like Diana Ross or Patty LaBelle. 40 years after it hit #1 on the billboard charts and inspired by my childhood fantasy, above is my latest painting “Lady Marmalade”. Named after one of my favorite songs by Patty Labelle (Not to be confused with the Christina Aguilera version), the lyrics tell a story of a prostitute on the streets of New Orleans approaching a guy and asking if he'd like to give it a go. My visual interpretation of the song tells a story about a strong and seductive black woman in a disco with silky skin, fabulous clothing, shiny lips, and an attitude that would make only the most confident of men attempt to ask her for a dance. Maybe she’d seduce one. Maybe not. But it would be on her terms. She’s the one in control.

Double Gulp - Nadine Robbins

This portrait is of a well-known art collector whose “guilty pleasure” is drinking an excess of diet coke. Based on a twenty-minute photo session, the image belies the subject’s upscale image and reveals a sense of humor and humanity.

Running on Dunkin - Nadine Robbins

Serafina - Nadine Robbins

In October of 2016, I was photographing Serafina, the daughter of a friend of mine in Rhinebeck, NY, when she started to discuss something that happened at school. It was one of those life lessons where one gets burned by close friends and you need time to recover your confidence. While she was talking, she seemed to retreat a bit into her comfortable sweater and I asked her to pull it over her face while she continued to talk. Although I had several photos of her looking at the camera, I preferred this image because it represented her "retreat" and her shaken confidence. She seemed to feel more comfortable behind the sweater. We also talked about the upcoming election with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and that didn't help her confidence. She was concerned. After the election, this painting took on another significance. I see her now as worried about her future as a young woman under the Trump presidency and what that means to her generation and gender. Personally, this is one of my favorite paintings because her retreat into the sweater is a mystery and viewers are curious and concerned.

Moxie - Nadine Robbins

Peace - Nadine Robbins

A commission of the Crosby family from Cape Cod

Mee Too - Nadine Robbins

Small yet powerful, this painting was inspired by my painting "It's Mine". This one is called "#metoo". The subtle anxiety where her fingers touch tells a story that the subject hesitates to talk about. It's a tribute to sexually assaulted women everywhere.

The Green File - Nadine Robbins

Have you ever seen the xrated video by Robin Thicke of the song “Blurred Lines”. It’s insulting to women. Not only did he do a misogynistic video but he did a second one, almost exactly the same as the first, with the women topless. Even though I liked the song, it angered me so much that I enlisted some friends to mock the video for a photoshoot. There were a lot of great images but none as good as “The Green File” which was when Kaitlin was taking a break and filing her nails while we spoke about the song. She is bored and disgusted with the status quo and her defiant and direct look at the viewer is how I feel about yet another song/video that disrespects women.

Smoking Dragon - Nadine Robbins

The current cultural climate has made me rethink my work. I want to paint more than pretty and precise. This painting represents a new, gritty, and raw creative direction that builds upon the existing subtle defiance of my past work. A fierce eye with a snarl, enhanced by saturation and over-sharpened edges, represents a volcano that’s ready to explode. My model, Kaitlin, is defiant. She is smoking a joint and unapologetic about it.

My name is Clementine - Nadine Robbins

I created this small painting of a model called Clementine. She has such a beautiful inner beauty. Stunning actually and will be my muse for several other paintings. This painting draws attention to her strength as a woman, a survivor, and a black woman. The chain necklace is symbolic of the history of racism in our country.