Featured Artist Rob Lenihan

Artist Rob Lenihan presents a collection of small scale figurative sculptures that reflect life transitions. Discover more of his work by visiting his website.

 

 

I have always made art in one form or another.

 

 

Growing up in Manchester in the 1980’s, my creative output was largely graffiti art influenced by artists from New York such as Dondi or Seen. Just like the hip hop culture, my influences were a real melting pot of ideas and traditions. I admired a vast array of artists ranging from the graffiti legends to the likes of Rodin, Cezanne and Gentislesci. I absorbed all of it and still do.

 

 

I started working in three dimensions for the first time in 2017. I began to understand the tangibility and intimacy of objects, and started making small sculptures.

 

 

It was the perfect medium to express what had been personally a traumatic period in my life. I connected with my own youth, revisiting an array of influences while attempting to encapsulate some fundamental universal truths that would perhaps offer a way to understand myself in relation to that period.

 

 

Small tactile objects can be held and understood not only by the way they look, but also by their presence and the sensation of touch. This physicality for me offers an opportunity for a deeper level of connection with an idea.

 

 

I remember as a child gazing in wonder at my granddad’s collection of small objects that were kept in a locked cabinet. Those porcelain cottages, figurines, and holiday souvenirs all took on a magical, precious quality.

 

 

I try to encapsulate this feeling in my work alongside all the layers of autobiographical history.

 

 

This led to a purpose in my work which is to embody the transition between youth and adulthood and more widely, human transition and growth at all stages of life. I incorporate themes of isolation, mythology and vulnerability—emotions and concepts that bring about a journey of spiritual growth.

 

 

I try to be a good communicator, condensing all the influences and thoughts on a particular idea into a concise visual summary. This is perhaps not unlike poetry, where language conveys a vast layered landscape of thoughts in concise collection of words.

 

 

I find that a figurative approach to visual communication works best for the ideas I want to explore as it can immediately be understood at a high level. That type of accessibility can be the gateway for deeper meditations.

 

Artist Rob Lenihan invites you to follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

 

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