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Hybrid Mastery – Artists’ Corner: Amber Robles-Gordon
Photography courtesy of the artist
Two years ago, Virgin Islands Property and Yacht magazine interviewed famous local artist Joseph Hodge, unveiling his artistic finesse and wealth of experience to our readers. It is of little surprise that his bloodline has conceived more talented individuals in cousin Amber Robles-Gordon, a mixed media sculptor and installation artist, who has recently discovered several of her relatives, including Joseph Hodge via our technological accessibility to the globe.
Born in Puerto Rico, raised in Arlington, Virginia and having lived in Washington DC for the last 17 years, the majority of her family reside in St Thomas, Tortola, St John, and Antigua; a few months ago, she contacted VIPY, enquiring about her cousin Joseph and has since established a relationship with her family here in the BVI.
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With the apple not falling far from the tree, the young artist revealed that she has led a successful career to date as an artist. Formally educated with a Masters of Fine Arts in painting from Howard University, Washington, she has won numerous awards and grants during her time studying, including a Special Projects Grant from the DC Commission in the Arts and Humanities.
Amber explained, “My artwork is a visual representation of my hybridism: a fusion of my gender, ethnicity, cultural and social experiences.”
With the noble intention of positively affecting viewers and recipients with her artistic energy, she translates the very concept of colour as a representation of both masculine and feminine vitality, representing various aspects of nature, and acting as a healing force in the creative process.
Despite spending less time in the Virgin Islands than she would have liked, Amber has drawn on both the imagery of the Caribbean and what she suspects is an innate tropical inspiration in her creativity.
“Although, I have only visited the islands at age 12 and twice as an adult, the Caribbean aesthetic and cultural influence is represented throughout my artwork,” said the accomplished artist. “The British and US Virgin Islands are a part of my bloodlines.”
Delving into the foundations of her career, Amber said “I desire my artwork to embody my spiritual connection to colour and project a sense of energy to positively affect others. I merge coloured feminine objects and masculine forms in order to visually fuse the various materials and energies.”
In taking this unconventional edge, Amber has created works that provoke the inquisitive mind and arguably emerge as mysterious. Simultaneously, Amber has a strong motivating factor supporting the pieces she produces.
“I use found objects to symbolically articulate the need to recycle energy and [show the] power inherent to discarded materials,” said the pioneering artist. “Through my work, I seek to examine the parallels between how humanity perceives its greatest resources, [and] how we treat our possessions and environment.”
Consistently reviewed in the Washington Post, Amber’s museum and university exhibitions include a series of locations: Montgomery College, Takoma Park, University of Maryland, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C, University of California, Washington Centre, The Rotunda Gallery at American University, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa and more.
In December 2012, Amber was selected to participate in Art Africa Miami. In 2013, she exhibited at Prizm Art Fair, and subsequently has been invited back to create an installation for the 2014 incarnation of the event.
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Most recently, the artist has been commissioned to form and co-lead a public art workshop, create a temporary public art installation, and be a panel participant as part of the James A. Porter Colloquium at Howard University in April 2014. Additionally, she has been appointed to create an installation for the Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture in September 2014.
With a bright future, Amber anticipates optimism in her ambition to visit the Virgin Islands for an extended duration with the goal of fulfilling a new and inspiring project: “In the near future my goal is to secure funding to be able to visit both the British and the US Virgin Islands for a longer period of time and be able to create a body of work that further explores my connections to Caribbean aesthetic and culture.”
The artist will be in Miami in December for the Art Basel, then travelling on to St. Thomas for the remainder of the month.
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