Robin Monique Rios

ARTIST Bio : Robin Monique Rios is a Chicago native and is the founder and director of 4Art Inc Gallery. Robin graduated with honors from the Illinois Institute of Art, Chicago, with a Bachelors degree of Fine Arts in Visual Communications in June 2003. While attending the Institute, she found her passion in photography. Using Photoshop like a painter uses canvas and a pallet of paint, Robin discovered the outlet through which she could be the most creative. She isn’t your typical digital artist. She’s a Digital Painter. One of Robin’s most notable body of works has been her “Observation Series” which she has been working on for nearly a decade: a thought provoking series which has been exhibited in many galleries and museums, solo and group shows. Robin’s work has been collected nationally and internationally. Robin challenges herself through her art, not only as a nature and architecture photographer/digital media but in her sculptural and mixed media work as well. She has never been afraid to delve into the unknown and strives to experiment and challenge her creative spirit. Robin is also concerned with the future of emerging artists and, through her gallery, she shares her experiences in assisting artists in their creative process and motivates them to become familiar with the business of art.

NOVEMBER 2015: View my Interview in the Art & Cultural Strategies November/December 2015 issue. Published by Renée LaVerné Rose (Art & Cultural Strategies, Inc.) To view click on this link http://www.artsandculturalstrategies.com/

MY EXHIBIT AT SOUTH SUBURBAN COLLEGE

ARTIST Statement : My photographic work derives from my deep seeded emotional response to the world around me. The process of my creation begins with my Nature and Architectural photography. For me this is a reflective journey that helps me to shed the everyday and reconnect with my inner self. My digital media focuses more on my emotional response to the social, political and religious issues of the past and present. In order to create these pieces I begin and end with my own photographs which were taken throughout my travels. I use my images like a painter uses paint, I add layer upon layer until I have reached an image that I feel thoroughly conveys my inner emotions and thoughts. I also consider myself a sculptor. I use recycled and surplus materials to create my one of a kind pieces. Departing from the more serious aspects of life, as in my photographic work, my sculptures allow me a childlike state of mind that awakens my playful spirit and hopefully provokes the same response in my viewer.

"As an artist, I feel it takes more than just having a talent to paint, sculpt or photograph. It takes great courage, dedication, passion and the audacity to create thought provoking pieces of art. To call myself an artist not only comes with great pride but it also comes with great responsibility. It is not a gift I intend to squander or take lightly by any means. My art isn’t a commodity that can just be bought and sold, art must be collected by those who are moved by it."

**Artist CV available by Email request