Kevin Roberts

Kevin Roberts'  (SA 1965 - 2009)  serene, quiet, almost dreamlike, carefully constructed works show consummate craftsmanship dedicated to a surreal exploration of beauty, symbolism and pattern.

A symbolic robed female figure is central to many of his compositions as well as recurring mysterious animal motifs such as birds, fish, cows and insects which appear to communicate messages from the unseen world. Minute, complex tiny images reveal details such as feathers, fossils, piles of salt, embroidery or thorns and dense, intricate patterns congregate surface. These archetypal, iconic elements weave their own interdependent language amidst a tapestry of painting so skilfully and painstakingly created and one that stretches from the Renaissance to the contemporary. 

Kevin Roberts passed at only 44 and has been described as " a shooting star" on the South African art scene and "one that left behind a luminous trail which touched all those who knew and loved him and his art " (Skawran, Karin). Much has been left unspoken about the meanings behind his paintings as Roberts wanted to allow the viewer to construct their own interpretation of his work. His ethereal motifs, contemporary hieroglyphs, unique palette and highly patterned surfaces have been analysed in a Jungian framework as manifestation of psyche via the collective unconscious, archetypes, anima, nature and symbols (Stevens, Ingrid).

‘Unknown Muse II’ is a poetic, mystical figure, enrobed in an inky herringbone patterned gown inscribed with highly detailed feathers. She appears to float in an ecclesiastical blue surround - a symbolic pool of the psyche. Women, in Jungian analysis represent the archetype of anima; the supreme or essential female and the loosely bound linkage to the unconscious. The bird is a messenger speaking code with an arrowed numerical, possibly angelic formula as undecipherable as Roberts' own comet trail and one that invokes a Renaissance tradition in art, of the bird as symbolic seraph.

The surrealistic paintings of Kevin Roberts can be described as heroic and the works an output of the hero's journey in the Jungian sense. They show such a committed dedication to the craft of painting that's so finely tuned it's almost other-worldly and their communication of intense renewal in a mythic landscape shows a quiet bravery and layered courage in the face of fear. They exude a calm paradise over the chasms of self-doubt we all face, leaving a rare legacy so fertile, strangely beautiful and luminous that they are almost incandescent in their ability to be transformative.