Robin de Lavis

I was born in post-war London, England in an area that had been hit by a V2 rocket. In contrast to that devastation I found solace and inspiration in the small village to which we moved, one that boasted enchanting woods filled with centuries of self-seeding wild flowers. This instilled in me a profound appreciation for the natural world, a central theme of my artistic practice. When we moved to Canada I found the woods were not such a friendly civilized space. These were hard to penetrate, harsh and unyielding to the unprepared traveller. This imprint of beauty and challenge is reflected in my work. Based upon my training in fine and applied arts, iconography and classical animation I have a two-pronged creative approach: a disciplined, preplanned method creating graphic and illustrative images reflecting our relationship to nature, and intuitive organic gestural paintings where the medium defines the message.