My current work is a series of labor intensive, realistic oil portraits of the detached heads of women.

The cognitive mechanism of the “uncanny valley” occurs when the human likeness produces disquiet and disturbance rather than empathy because it triggers the salience of morality, defies human norms, throws mate selection, and challenges the religious definition of identity or “soul.” The more familiar the likeness is, the more sublimely eerie it becomes.

 The uncanny valley is associated with a more general psychological occurrence in which perception is distorted by categorization. Painting and its relationship to “beauty” is fraught with a history of categorization. I find the subject of “feminine appearance” and assumed aesthetics to be culturally unreal (braindead), and therefore an inviting subject for realism and investigation. 

These are paintings of those I know and care about, and working slowly and deliberately on their portraits offers a meditative space to examine the human head. 

I also teach wet-into-wet oil painting technique. My works smaller works on paper and linen are done onsight from live models, they show the energy of working from life, among other painters. In these works, am interested in creating a psychological and emotional space in an abbreviated image. I work on scrap material and leave the edges unfinished to emphasize immediacy. The backbone of my painting practice is combining technique with contemporary thought. 

  My paintings are an ongoing exploration of the spaces where "inner" and "outer" meet, whether the setting be human or celestial. From the mysteries and metaphors that I find in familiar subjects, such as my ships and dancers, to my cosmological studies of a complex and seemingly impersonal universe -- in the heart of my creations lies the familiar made abstract, and the distant made intimate. 

A note on the "Inner Space" series:
I am fascinated with the analogy of space with human consciousness. The vastness of space, with its mysterious and oft-dazzling beauty, and the highly complex "inner space" of human consciousness form the focus of my work. Layers of color and texture illuminate my visions of planets and stars as points in a vast continuum, radiating life and emotion of their own. I think of each painting as the result of various “encounters” with these places, revealed in boldly colorful, multi-dimensional and sometimes sensual paintings that simultaneously evoke a sense of space intertwined with psychic tension. 
 

I like ducks.

When I walk around with my camera in my hands the whole world looks different. I notice the tiniest details. The strange angles. The hidden shadows. When I look through the viewfinder the too big world becomes manageable. Magical. I can take a moment in time and make it last forever. These days we spend so much energy in our journeys from here to there distracting ourselves (cell, mp3, laptop) that we miss the little things. We miss being in and reacting to the present. Now more than ever it is the task of the photographer to capture the present for everyone that missed it the first time around.

Rob Anderson is known for the emotive power and exquisite execution of his art.  Whether drawing, painting, or multi-media installation, content is of great importance to him.  He works primarily with the human figure rendered from life incorporating it into environments, both abstract and real, actual or imagined.

 In his first open studio in 20 years, Rob will be showing a selection of artwork spanning his professional career including works from the Man-in-the-Box series, the Pergamon Altar Project, Rattlesnake in a Moving Car: Life with HIV, and his iconic 1982 Gay Olympic Games print.

During my 2005 travel to the Carolinas, I was drawn into these interior spaces where the afternoon sunlight filled in a narrative of antiquity. The story dates itself to circa 1800’s on a plantation near the Catawba River in the Carolinas, where early African-American slaves created various objects used for daily living. In these post-photo images I had asked a photo service to add sepia, my favorite. When the final touches were applied, a result of which I refer to as frayed edges came forth. Sepia has the ability to effect emotion that reestablishes a mood in history, and it also serves as a sage of time.