A Spotlight on Iona Roberts: Glasgow urban landscapes

More used to travelling further afield throughout Scotland and Europe, Iona was confined during lockdown with her forthcoming solo show temporarily postponed. Undeterred, she took to meandering the streets of Glasgow and surrounding areas, sketchbook in hand, absorbing and documenting places that were usually busy and populated. Exploring concepts of identity, time and space Iona believes that the more she revisits the place, the deeper it gets ingrained subconsciously. This suite of sketchbook notes reflects her emotional response to the events we have all lived through during the pandemic, and has provided her with a rich source of drawings to be further developed back in the studio.

“Location is used as a starting point for all my work. Through walking, I absorb and document places from busy cities to remote landscapes. I enjoy being a Flâneur, exploring concepts of identity, time and space. I believe the more I revisit a place, the further it gets ingrained subconsciously.

Back in the studio, I use surfaces and memories collected from my work on location as a starting point to explore further possibilities. Often, paintings end up looking far removed from their source drawings as the experience has become personalised, allowing the paint to take its own path.” Iona Roberts.

Iona Roberts graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with a First Class Honours in Fine Art Painting (2015) and the Royal Drawing School Postgraduate Programme (2016). Iona’s work was selected for the Federation of British Artists (FBA) Futures exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London in 2016. She was awarded the the Royal Drawing School Pignano residency (2017) and the Richard Ford Award residency to Madrid at the Prado (2017); Trustees' Prize at the Royal Drawing School 2015-16 end of year exhibition; the Stevenston Painting Award at the Royal Scottish Academy New Contemporaries Exhibition (2016), and the Catriona White Prize for Distinction in Drawing from Observed Reality (2015). She was selected to participate in the Compass Gallery New Generation Show, followed by her debut solo show in 2018.