Grace Tobin

I investigate our relationships to the environments we inhabit and how these connections impact our sense of self. My practice circles the idea of space, documenting the physical and physiological impact it has to inform our identity.

I explore the interdependence between human life and environment, abstracting form to then reconstruct and challenge our sense of perspective. I re-imagine how our space mirrors the psychological and physiological connections we create in our world. I am interested in the semiotic value we place on our surroundings.

I am curious about the ways in which our environments display an inner narrative. What and how these objects and spaces are composed can tell us much about a personal state of being. I am interested in how physical objects can build and hold emotional value over time to embody memories and a sense of self. There’s a semiotic value to an environment that I aim to expose through my paintings.

Along with my study of environments as made up of objects in the domestic setting, I also consider how this embodiment of the psychological and physiological connections we create in our world can be expressed through abstracted figural and botanical forms.

I reconstruct and challenge our sense of space, subtracting material to present a segmented reality. The graphical style of these paintings, paired with repetitive patterns, mirror the themes of imperfection and repetition in our lives and routines. My work exhibits the speculative, contemplative moments in which we are formed, informed, and reminded by our surroundings over time.