Contemplating the essence of an object provides breathing room for my mind. I use 

photographic references and use rulers to delineate angles and fragments. I use artist tape to 

manipulate spatial angles and shapes within the picture plane. The composition coalesces and 

emerges into a zone of unfamiliar associations. I am cognizant of a tighter aspect ratio of the 

composed images when evaluating the multiple archetypal barn structures. Lines may signal 

perspective or articulate or merge with exterior surface images. 

My family farm dating from 1833 holds a historical and prepossessing pull toward hard work, 

effort, and harvest. And yet — post-modern fragmentation and modernist alienation inform my 

experience. The archetypal structures illuminate self-determination, but also delve into what 

unknown behind the surface. What is inside the doorway or window? What mystery is attached 

to a rope or latch as it has held its placement – frozen in time? These structures reveal a secret to 

what appears to be ordinary. What I see on the surface of simple and mundane things of the 

world is a pass-through to an interior mystery. It is not about the object but crossing into its 

borderland using graphite and paint. 

Resume_SandraReeseRoberts_2020 – Sandra Roberts