Robertson-Swann’s painted and polished stainless steel and perspex sculptures have an intense physical authority. Their responsiveness to light and subtle transitions of plane and surface simultaneously negate and heighten their presence. These works have been distilled to a point where the dichotomies of interior/exterior, open/closed and transient/monolithic are brought together, forming spatial illusions that Robertson-Swann deploys as devices within the works.
The relationship between the reflective and, conversely, light-absorbent matte surfaces, make the interaction with their surroundings fluid. The architectural motif of the window frames the space around the works and plays with our perception of voids.
These sculptures force our impression of positive and negative space to vacillate, in an experience Robertson-Swann terms “waltzing with the square”. Indeed, these sculptures inhabit a peripheral realm that one almost has to glance at sideways to catch off guard.
Courtesy of Defiance Gallery
Campbell Robertson-Swann is a sculptor, curator and the director of Defiance Gallery Sydney. He is also the younger brother of fellow Australian sculptor Ron Robertson-Swann (b. 1941). He spent his early years looking through his brother’s art books, visiting the art galleries of Sydney and spending time amongst artists. Learning through looking and experience was Campbell’s way of investigating and engaging with the art world.
Campbell’s own work brings together a monumentality of form and a fluid subtlety to form a whole that is at once decisive and perpetually surprising and engaging.
Campbell's work is held in many collections within Australia and overseas.
mirror-polished and brushed stainless steel, Perspex
45 x 43 x 45 cm
Finalist
Judges of the 2014 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize: Lisa Havilah (Director of Carriageworks), Justin Miller (International Art Advisor and former Chairman of Sotheby's Australia) and Gretel Packer (Arts Patron and Trustee of the Art Gallery of NSW).
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