Intentionality, energy, and consciousness coalesce in Robbie Fife’s new work, through which he explores internal worlds and the unseen, the intangible communication between our bodies and nature. ‘Thinking through imagery’ is at the heart of these seemingly transient realms. He invites viewers to experience a slight shift of perception, and thus discern connections between the things that emerge within his pieces. The subjects in Fife’s compositions commune inherently with one another, although this communication is often suggested rather than explicitly defined. They convey a range of emotions onto a visual plane that speaks to the language and potential power of contemporary painting. His work serves as a thought process into the ancient and the mystic, and in his examination of knowledge and belief systems Fife finds the ‘equity of all things’ to be a compelling and unifying force.
Spirals, circles, and orbs are recurring themes in Fife’s recent work and reflect his interest in the patterns and movements of the natural world. The inevitability of such phenomena in nature is abundant and found in, for example, concentric circles in trees, the motion of water, snail shells, flight paths of moths, falling leaves, the double helix of DNA and in the movement of the heavenly bodies. For Fife, ‘everything oscillates – everything has a frequency’, energy surrounds us. Together, these ideas run throughout his paintings and are rooted in the relationship with his home and surroundings in North Yorkshire. Fife’s work has been described as ‘gently surreal’, depicting inner landscapes of consciousness which whilst artistically free in their expression hold contradictions; he has described the atmosphere in some of his paintings as anchored by a comfortable claustrophobia. Fife’s new exhibition combines influences from a collective body of works that are connected by their ‘singular emphasis’. Guided by a desire not to overburden his paintings with information they each share a simplicity of sorts, in which there are creative spaces for viewers to observe unfolding narratives of Fife’s making.
The exhibition comprises ten paintings, half of which are egg tempera on clay board. Egg tempera is a new medium for Fife, whose experimentation with this process is an exploration itself into ancient painting methods. It can be a painstaking process due to the delicate nature of the material – it works best when applied in thin layers and can lift easily when being over-painted. Learning to handle and work with this fragility also aligns with Fife’s ongoing engagement with the surface finish and texture of a painting – its ‘weathering’ – as it foregrounds notions of time and labour in the object.
Fife was awarded his MFA in painting from The Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London (2014). He has twice been a recipient of the artist-in-residence programme established by The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation – in Connecticut, USA (Nov/Dec 2015) and at Carraig-na-gcat, Ireland (Sept 2019). He has exhibited at the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (2019; 2022), and is represented by Willoughby Gerrish.
Recent exhibitions include Ghosts in Sunlight, Willoughby Gerrish with Rory Mitchell, Thirsk Hall Sculpture Garden (2024); Native, Willoughby Gerrish, Thirsk Hall Sculpture Garden (solo, 2023); Stage, LLE Projects at Kingsgate Project Space, London (2023); Locals, Willoughby Gerrish, London (solo, 2022); Escape Routes, Oliver Projects, London (2022); Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2022); A Quiet Settling on Earth, millimetre02 at Kingsgate Project Space, London (2021); Kist, Oliver Projects, London (solo, 2021); Without You My Life Would Be Boring, Staffordshire Street Studios, London (2020); Used For Glue, Studio 2, Staffordshire Street Studios, London (2019); Odds, The Other MA (TOMA) at Royals Shopping Centre, Southend (2019); Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2019); 9 Artists: Thin House, London (2018); Nightswimming, LLE at Mission Gallery, Swansea, Wales (2018); Sightseers, g39, Cardiff, Wales (2018); ODDS, Studio 7, Assembly Point, London (2017); Outhouse, May Project, London (solo, 2016).
