Kaitlyn Robicheau-Hall is a Student at Plymouth State University, she was born and raised in Nh. She has graduated from Conval High School and is working to get her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art, with two minors in Graphic Design and Art History.  She is interested in traveling abroad to expand her knowledge in both Painting and Printmaking. Her paintings usually revolve around the depictions of nature and still life.

Kaitlyn's work this past year depicts scenes that intend to connect to the viewers on a personal basis. Focused on depicting light with stronger colors and higher contrast that show everyday experiences, hoping to cause an emotional response that interacts with the viewer. While Kaitlyn focuses in Oil Paint she also works with collage, printmaking, and graphic design.

‍https://kaitlynrobicheauhall.weebly.com/

What continues to motivate you to create your work?

I can’t think of not making art. Even when I’m not painting, I am still creating, either fixing up a porch (like I am doing currently), or crocheting a stuffed animal. I can’t not create. Usually, everyday experiences will motivate me to paint. I will be doing something and I will see a scene that makes me want to capture it, either because of the color or just the because the subject is interesting.

Who or what influences your practice?

Two artists that influence me are Robert Kushner and Denis Sarazhin. This past year, the use of color and the representation of light that Sarazhin incorporates into his paintings inspired me to work with higher contrast in my own work. While Robert Kushner has been inspiring me in my own work since 2020, first in my own exploration of depicting flowers, but most recently he has been an influence on me to paint what I want even if there isn’t a deep meaning surrounding the piece; to create this series where the viewers interaction with the piece isn’t influenced by my own reasoning for painting the scene.

How would you describe the mood of your work?

I believe the mood of my work surrounds a reminiscent feeling, as my pieces are intended to interact with the viewer personally, trying to cause the viewer to remember a similar scene of the depicted subject that they have experienced themselves.

What do you feel is the most challenging part of being an artist?

The most challenging part of being an artist is starting a piece, deciding what to paint on a blank canvas. But it is also difficult to enjoy the outcome of your work. The hardest critic for an artist’s work is the artist themselves, so it is always difficult to decide when the work is finished.

Tell us about something from your creative life that you are particularly proud of.

I am particularly proud of the pieces that I created this year that were shown in my senior thesis show. At the beginning of the year, I had a very difficult time creating a theme to work with, and by November I had only painted two small paintings. After I decided that the theme was not working, I changed my thesis to depict scenes that people might see every day in high contrast as a way to spark a memory with the viewer. I am proud of this as I had to realize that the work that I was creating before felt like a chore and I dreaded working on it. Once I changed my thesis to something that had less of a structured meaning, I was able to connect better and I enjoyed painting again. It might seem like a simple concept, but I feel that a lot of university students during the stress of their senior year forget that they chose the work because they first enjoyed it -- and I was one of them. I learned that if you aren’t enjoying what you are doing, you need to change it. Due to this I am proud of the series that I created, not only because of the final outcome of the work, but because the pieces were able to interact with the people viewing them. Throughout the Senior Thesis Show, I was able to listen to stories and memories that the paintings reminded the viewers of; this connection was the exact experience that I wanted when individuals observed my work.