Maximillian William – Rosanne Robertson: Subterrane

Maximillian William is proud to present Subterrane the West Cornwall based artist Rosanne Robertson’s first solo presentation with the gallery. The exhibition brings together recent sculpture, performance, drawings and paintings which continue Robertson’s exploration of the terrain of the Queer body in the landscape – inspired by the great energy, freedom and fluidity of the sea.

Recent gouache on paper and board works consist of two forms Robertson describes as ‘islands’ and ‘stacks’. In the studio, Robertson works on large rolls of paper on the floor, starting with a loose arrangement of bodies, islands and stacks, more defined compositions emerge in a cyclical way. For this series, swaths of cyan and blue surround abstract forms which can be seen as standing figures or, in some instances, aerial views of bodily islands and formations surrounded by water at different stages of submersion. Intertwined forms, expanded figures and their appendages born of the body grow from shifting foundations and bleed into each other via watery channels that penetrate and surround the compositions- providing an alternative view into underground and unseen worlds- or a Subterrane.