OM.2026.100 - Robin Roberts - USA

OM.2026.100 - collage on panel - 8 x 8 inches - Untitled - Robin Roberts - USA - Visual Poetry and Color

 Robin Sanford Roberts is an American mixed media artist, collage maker, and acclaimed theatrical scenic designer based in San Diego, California. Her fine art practice revolves around layering textures, exploring fragments from the past, and breathing new life into historical remnants. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Artistic Mediums & Stylistic Elements

Roberts's studio practice focuses on building complex visual stories through multi-layered compositions. Her work regularly integrates: [1]

• Vintage Ephemera: Old books, discarded paper scraps, and historical found materials that carry an inherent, pre-existing narrative. [1, 2]
• Gelli Plate Monoprinting: Utilizing a gelatin-like plate to pull unpredictable, textured prints that form the raw foundation for her paper layering. [1, 2]
• Blind Contour Drawing: Incorporating fluid, continuous line drawings directly over or under her collages to inject a sense of spontaneous energy into the work. [1]
• Scenic Crossover: Drawing from her background in theater, her physical collages often feature structural depth, a distinct sense of scale, and highly dramatic plays on light and shadow. [1, 2, 3]

Theatrical Career & Scenic Design

Alongside her physical fine arts portfolios, Roberts is an elite, award-winning theatrical set designer whose structural canvases stretch across major American stages. [1, 2, 3]

• Broadway & Regional Work: She has designed immersive sets for The Old Globe Theatre, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Denver Center Theatre Company, and Broadway productions. [1]
• Academic Background: She earned a degree in Architecture from Louisiana State University (LSU) before completing her MFA in Scenic Design at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). She additionally studied at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts in Fontainebleau, France. [1]

Teaching, Residencies, & Community

Roberts actively divides her time between global artist residencies and local mentorship: [1, 2]

• Global Residencies: She was awarded the prestigious Denis Diderot grant for an international artists' residency at the Château d'Orquevaux in France.
• Community Art Classes: She operates out of her physical studio at Art on 30th in San Diego, while regularly teaching specialized undergraduate theater design courses at the University of San Diego and public printmaking workshops at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla. [1, 2, 3]