Bio

Scott Allen Roberts is an American contemporary artist drawing on personal life experiences in which themes of mortality, existentialism, and the human condition dominate his bold and graphic artwork. A Los Angeles native born in 1980 and graduating with a BFA from the University of Southern California and post graduate from Parsons the New School, Roberts' ontological concepts could be considered 'dark' territory, yet he explores them through bright and compelling, stylistically collisional environments. Roberts has exhibited in Art Basel Miami, New York, Maryland, and Connecticut and published in several internationally distributed publications. The Hudson Valley is the backdrop for Roberts' art studio as well as the inspiration for several of his works. Delving into the wooded landscape and exploring the perpetuity of the seasons Scotts' work aims to draw focus to the tenuous juxtaposition between humanity and mother nature, and how this tension is strained further within the attention economy as virtual and real spaces become blurred.

Original Art by Scott Allen Roberts

Statement

Artist Scott Allen Roberts is a contemporary landscape painter  drawing on personal life experiences in which themes of mortality, existentialism, and the human condition dominate his bold and graphic artwork. The artist's allegorical works in acrylic and oil on canvas are peppered with symbolic artifacts employed to question where our actual and virtual lives intersect, and how we as a society have blurred the understanding between the two. While the ontological concepts in Roberts' work could be considered 'dark' territory, he explores them through bright, provocative, and compelling environments, something which can be seen in his ongoing and developing series 'PERPETUUS'. 
www.scottallenroberts.com

Original Art by Scott Allen Roberts

When did your interest in art begin vs. when you began thinking of it as a career/life choice?

My interest in art began very young as a child and was thankfully cultivated by my parents with art supplies such as fine papers and drawing utensils. I went to the University of Southern California, earning a degree in fine arts in 2002. It was not until roughly six years ago in 2017 that I stopped working the '9-5', took the leap, and opened a studio to work on art full time.


What draws you to your particular subject matter?

I create observational landscapes and figures exploring cosmological, ontological, and phenomenological concepts surrounding the ideas of existentialism and the human condition. My allegorical works in acrylic and oil on canvas are peppered with symbolic artifacts employed to question where our actual and virtual lives intersect, and how we as a society have blurred the understanding between the two. I am drawn to the relationship of the earth and its relationship to the human condition.


What interest of yours (outside of art) ends up influencing your practice the most?

Ecology in general and how biological kingdoms coexist and how they affect the human condition. Spending a lot of time outdoors, hiking, running, and enjoying the nature of upstate New York.


What is one piece of advice you wish you could give your younger self?

To be more disciplined and create deadlines that provide myself with more structure to create and finish projects, whether or not they were for a client or gallery. Also, listen to yourself more than you listen to others--while advice is ok, don't subscribe to a trend or style. Take risks that push your practice into unchartered territory even if it scares you.


What would you say is your biggest goal for this year?

My biggest goal after moving into a larger studio space, which happened the beginning of January 2023, is to begin working on larger collaborative interior design projects and begin working in the community around me developing workshops to help train lost creative practices and cultivate a new crop of young creative minds.

Original Art by Scott Allen Roberts
Original Art by Scott Allen Roberts
Scott Allen Roberts
Original Art by Scott Allen Roberts
Original Art by Scott Allen Roberts
Original Art by Scott Allen Roberts
Scott Allen Roberts
Original Art by Scott Allen Roberts