In this episode of The Truth In This Art, I sit down with Dana Robinson — Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist whose practice combines, reproduces, and deconstructs vintage materials, found objects, and paint to explore youth, Black female identity, ownership, and nostalgia.

About Dana Robinson: Robinson grew up in Seminole, Florida — a Florida baby with New York parents — where her mother, a painter, drawer, and sculptor, was an early influence. Her work has been featured in Vulture, Vice, and Ain't Bad, and has been exhibited through virtual reality and gallery platforms.

Her practice right now is rooted in Ebony magazines from the 1960s and 70s — a time capsule she describes as universally understood. She creates prints from them, paints advertisements directly onto silk screens, and uses the colors and textures of that era to bring a sense of comfort to the work. From that place of comfort she talks about femininity, Black female identity, and the standards we silently accept — asking why, and what else is possible.

Robinson talks about her experience as part of the third cohort at The Last Resort Artist Retreat, her work shown through Moisturizer at SPRING/BREAK Art Show under the body of work Girlhood Studies, and why she chose art as something she could just keep exploring — and never retire from.

She has upcoming shows including Get Ready With Me, a solo exhibition by Dana Robinson at the Mildred I. Washington Art Gallery at Dutchess Community College, running November 9th through December 11th, with an opening reception on November 12th from 5–7pm at 53 Pendell Road in Poughkeepsie, New York. She will also be at the Wassaic Project's Holiday Market on December 5th from 12–5pm at 37 Furnace Bank Road in Wassaic, New York. Her work from SPRING/BREAK Art Show with Moisturizer Gallery is also part of Girlhood Studies in the Expanded Field, which opened October 16th — work that was written about in FAD Magazine.

Find Dana Robinson on Instagram at @alphabet_party and at danarobinsonstudio.com.

Photo credit: Courtesy of the subject.

The Truth In This Art is supported by William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, the Maryland State Arts Council's Creativity Grant and Mayor's Individual Artist Award - Creative Baltimore Fund (Baltimore). 

Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production: