Robyn Gordon

Robyn is an artist living in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. As a child growing up on a farm she loved the outdoors.

“I loved to touch and feel nature in my hands. The smoothness of acorns and pebbles, the roughness of pine bark, the hollowness of birds’ nests …. anything tactile under my fingertips.

At a young age I commandeered my mum’s unused carving chisels and I found that I could create many tactile qualities in wood by chipping, gouging, whittling and sanding. This was a thrilling discovery!

Through my work I tell the story of my life in South Africa. I carve wooden totems and panels, incorporating wire,  beads and found objects.

Most days I spend carving in the shade of the veranda with the sound of Purple Crested Turacos calling in the treetops and the stream rushing by on the other side of the garden wall. Monkeys often bound from roof to roof and peek over the edge to see what I’m doing. This is my happy place. I smile a lot while working. It is my meditation and it is particularly therapeutic during strange and stressful times.”