Eyes on the Prize

“It’s an honor to be chosen,” says Roberts, a faculty member at the San Diego State University School of Art, Design and Art History. “I feel like I’m in good company.”

One look at Roberts’ explorative new works provides an immediate sense of why she was picked. Her paintings document the things she’s accumulated throughout life-paperbacks, bouquets of flowers, even the weekly trash pile. With new takes on landscape and still-life paintings, Roberts has, in a sense, been marking the trail of her life through her art.

“As I get older, I become more and more conscious of how time is passing so quickly,” she says. “I became more interested in defining a particular moment in these piles of things.”

It was this work that caught the eye of the local arts community, says Patricia Frischer, director of the San Diego Art Prize and coordinator of the San Diego Visual Arts Network. Frischer says that Robert’s latest pieces should propel her, along with fellow Art Prize winners like David Adey and Julio Orozco, into the national spotlight.

“With this brand new series, she is still representing San Diego, but seems to be even more widely speaking to basic human relationships,” says Frischer.

Most of the series of paintings will be on display September 2 through 5, during the Art San Diego Art Fair at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. For a more intimate viewing, see Roberts’ solo show, opening September 25 at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla.
gailroberts.net

Need more coolture? From dance to short films, mark your calendar for these September events:
9/2-9/6: EASEL-A San Diego Arts Affair

(Corner of 7th Avenue and C Street, Downtown)
Featuring more than 50 California artists, this art fair showcases some of the best in local talent, including the works of Eric Wixon, Mike Maxwell and Rich Walker. A portion of sales benefits the It’s All About The Kids Foundation.