Performance and Visual Artist Tif Robinette

Artist Statement by Tif Robinette

Pretty Pony. Performance by Tif Robinette

Artist Statement by Tif Robinette

Tif Robinette: ‘Finding the sweet spot between hyper-femininity and aggression, my work is fueled by revulsion to excessive beauty. The interplay between lust and loathing is found within the works, as excess engorges the forms. Rites of passage, such as baptisms, pageants, birthday parties and debutant balls, are environments I am interested in exploring. The organic forms, referencing entrails, cocoons, scatology and cave formations, become sites of obsessive adornment.

I work in many mediums simultaneously, each material demands a unique handling; from hand sewing, to bending wire, to mixing gelatinous plastics. Sourcing crafting and home improvement materials, including, silicone, glitter, plaster, satin, spray foam, puffy paint, and Styrofoam, I construct saccharine mountains reminiscent of post-party Barbie puke or pre-pageant nausea. Combining antique furniture, traditional bridal sewing techniques, and tufting, the hanging sculptures dangle like carcasses or bloated pageant dresses.

Through personal narratives of feminine mythology, family, and dreams, I explore the natural cycles of eating and excrement, beauty and vulgarity, desire and lust. Playful encounters with materials prompt my explorations of spaces and actions.’

Performance artist Tif Robinette. Photo by MK Moore

Tif Robinette About Her Background:

‘Raised homeschooled in West Virginia [USA], the eldest of nine children, I developed a vivacious imagination and a penchant for massive scale crafting. My experience growing up with seven younger sisters, and then attending a Southern women’s college, informs my fetishization of the nauseatingly pretty. My work, cursed to be cute, both rebels against, and embraces femininity. In a spirit of playfulness, I create sickly-sweet multi-media projects that reference environments, relationships, and my own history with a sense of excess and frivolity, finding the crude and fantastic in the everyday. I work in many media simultaneously, including painting, installation, sculpture and performance’.

Craftivism

Tif Robinette will be doing two performances at the queer arts and crafts exhibition titled Craftivism, curated by Canadian/ British/ American performance and video artist Coral Short. Pretty Pony (see photo above) is one of them. Craftivism will open in Brooklyn, July 2013.