Biography

Robin Tedesco is an artist and educator, living and working in Philadelphia. Her degrees in Fine Arts are from Moore College of Art (BFA), Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and University of Delaware (MFA). Her abstract oil paintings utilizing multiple layers of rich textures and colors on wood panels, reflect her experiences living in Italy, New York, and Philadelphia. Tedesco describes herself as being both an archeologist and a detective. She loves to dig, uncover, restore and look for what the light and dark reveals and transforms. The wood panels serve as etching plates that color is pushed over and printed onto. A combination of printmaking, drawing and painting interlace to form a cohesive image, revealing the interior light and structure present in the multiple layers of pigment and texture. Tadesco is committed to conveying the richness and depth of her experiences and observations in this work. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is in public and private collections.

Artist Statement

When painting, I work like an archeologist – excavating, scratching, uncovering, restoring. Forms and figuration appear and disappear as layers reveal and transform the hidden light. My love of Italian Renaissance and Baroque painting blossomed when living in Rome and I was privileged to be surrounded by these revolutionary works. Their influence aligned with the way my paintings evolve. The oil and wood panels offer continual inspiration as they did for those artists in the 15th Century. My recent study of gold leaf techniques provides another link to medieval artists. Printmaking and drawing through oil-transfer, collaged materials, old photos, bits of discarded works on paper and rubbings materialize and are hidden and waiting to be discovered. Wherever I am, my acute visual sensibility is ready to absorb the current image; the color of a bird, the decay in ancient architecture, the subtlety of a shadow. I am grateful that my work as an artist heals me in rough times and is always therapeutic, offering continual inspiration and challenges.