Justin G Roberts b. 1994, Boston, Massachusetts
Since Justin started painting, he has explored the mysterious terrain between what can be measured by physical senses and what can be perceived only by emotions.
At the start of Justin’s artistic journey, realism combined with abstraction was the direction which prevailed in his style. Later he started to incline more toward surrealism, combined techniques and experimentation still searching for his own unique way of expression.
In 2015, Justin painted his first Stop Sign. It was also his first contact with landscape painting and the physical environment itself. He immediately saw a great potential in this form of painting and expression as it combined the built terrain with his own expressive work.
Justin renders onto the canvas his architectural passions – his fascination with the energy of the urban environment. His carefully crafted perspectives invite the viewer into the all-consuming momentum of the cityscape, alive with texture. The dynamism of Justin’s loose brushstrokes and blurred canvases evoke the city as a living entity, constantly in flux. Yet they also lend his scenes a wonderful sense of opacity; keeping the observer at arm’s length, they are the acknowledgment of the impersonal nature of the metropolis, with its hidden away existences and shuttered private lives.
Justin uses various mediums together - oils, pencils, acrylic and spray paint – to create a work as varied as the city itself. Often, he begins his work with less than pristine canvases and signs – old, degraded, bent and imbued with their own history – and he works to unite these pre-existing traces into his work.
WHY THE CITYSCAPES ARE SPECIAL TO ME?
When I observe the city itself, the first thing that happens is that it evokes a feeling or mood in me. And this very first notion is what interests me the most; trying to capture the vitality and rich diversity of the environment while concentrating on the emotional context. I love the sense of directness and truthfulness as it breathes.