Julian Robbins is a visual artist based in Columbus, OH. Working in drawn line, rapid prototyping, 3D rendering, animation, and found/appropriated media, their experimental practice seeks to blur the line between traditional and new media, exploring issues of Queerness, identity, religion, liminality, and the interplay of dualisms.

This practice grew from a simultaneous draw and repulsion to religious art they felt as a Queer artist. The history of Western art is inextricably tied to the development of Christianity- forming a mutualistic relationship between the two as one furthered the reach of the other. The result is over a milenium of masterpieces, and the bulk of of Western art history curriculum.

Reconciling the two, Christian art and Christianity, from a Queer artist's perspective, though, is a complex, messy thing. The contrast is sharp between the beauty and grace of The Virgin Mary, or the serenity of Christ's posture, and the malice of some who claim him as their savior. How does one reconcile all the great art drawn from the pages of a book with the cruel memory of being hit with thrown copies?

Through their work, Robbins conveys their emotional reality and that which cannot, at least concisely, be shared by language alone- to make meaning. Because their ultimate goal as an artist is to make meaning, Robbins will often revisit a piece multiple times, remaking and reshaping until the result reflects the original intent of the work, if not its form. They are continually seeking out new media as fresh means of expression.

Julian Robbins is currently a Graduate Teaching Associate and MFA candidate at the Ohio State University.

contact: Robbins.391@osu.edu