Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Wright
Hi Robert, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been a lifelong artist since I started making art in high school in the late 60s. It’s been quite a journey, including uprooting my career in south central Ohio five years ago and moving to Cleveland. Starting fresh during a pandemic forced me to reassess my direction and re-commit myself 100% to abstraction using figurative motion.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My biggest obstacle was finding consistent figurative motion to draw from. Before I moved to Cleveland, I had to draw from YouTube videos, as there were no dance companies that would let me sit in.
In Cleveland, I’ve been able to sit in with GroundWorks DanceTheatre (now defunct), Ohio Contemporary Ballet, and Inlet Dance Theatre. This has helped break so much new ground, and my artworks have developed exponentially.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Being a deaf artist situates me in a unique experience. I am a lip reader, and my 90% loss of hearing leaves me sensitive to body language and the implications of gesture since I rely on visual cues. My disability makes me to look for meaning in the way people move. I prefer observing and drawing from dancers because they are less inhibited. My inner dance world is important to me. I communicate my deaf self through these marks. I feel the way we move reflects our identities. By capturing the odd angles and juxtapositions I see in life, I create an abstracted world of human energy and unspoken meaning, as well as works reflecting beauty, grace, strength, balance, and rhythm.
I sit in during dance rehearsals and draw on drips on muslin using India ink, and later mount these strips on canvas to begin my painting process. Combined with my dancer/marks, my work synthesizes place, rhythmic form, and visual energy.
I’ve shown in several Ohio State Fair Fine Arts exhibitions and have had over 50 one-man shows and 100 group shows in the United States. I currently have a solo show in Akron’s Summit Artspace, and have works in the 2025 Bryn Du Spring Show (Granville) and Bayarts Spring Show (Bay Village).
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I believe artists create their own luck with hard work. Bring an artist is 10% talent and 90% courage. You have to stay committed for the long haul because it’s a very lonely profession.
Pricing:
- $50-$4,000
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.rwrightart.com
- Instagram: Rwrightartguy
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f0b8chJx3cw&t=4s
