OCA preloader logo
Tracy Roberts - The Open College of the Arts

To find out more details about the transfer to The Open University see A New Chapter for OCA.

Tracy Roberts thumb

Tracy Roberts


Here’s tutor and assessor Jim Unsworth talking about a piece of work by level 3 Painting student Tracy Roberts


Posted by author: Mark Lomas

11 thoughts on “Tracy Roberts

  • Interesting yet difficult for me. I have a few different reactions to this. The superficial one – anyone can do splodges of paint !!! Then, I think of Joseph and his coat and finally of hills and valleys – lots of them. I bet there is lots more that I simply cannot (too inexperienced) unpack. Jim’s explanation of the brushstrokes helps of course. Thanks

  • This reminds me of Gerhard Richter’s Grey U-paintings (Vermalung),albeit at the other extreme of the colour scale. Looking for inspiration, he reduced one formal element to zero, ignored composition and just explored the physicality of paint. I like that this painting could be one layer thick, or many layers. And so from that aspect there is an indication of process and time taken

  • “Physical” is the word Jim uses several times in his commentary and that physicality – including the blatant implication of Tracey’s physical actions in making it – works so well. It reminds me of seeing some of Jackson Pollock’s work, where the surface is really deep and undulating (with ‘stuff’ embedded in it, in his case). Thanks for sharing, Jim, and thanks to Tracey for ‘making’ the work. (And I haven’t even mentioned the wonderful colours!)

  • I saw these paintings at the assessment event and was struck by not only their strong physical presence but also the clear dedication in the repeated marks, each stroke of the brush a similar shape and angle while applying different colours across the picture plane – layer upon layer of richly hued curves of paint building the encrusted surface outwards into the viewers’ space – the ‘painting’ eventually emerging as a pictorial object

  • Physical yes, well painting is physical and emotional. The work reminds me of textile, possibly a rag rug. Was this intended, accidental or the wrong interpretation.

  • I love the strong vibrant colour Tracey uses in this work. The thickness of the paint and the repeated similarity in strokes give the work impact and a certain motion. It is exciting and vibrant.
    Anne Linehan

  • These paintings remind me of music with the different notes being repeated with large jumps in tonality, but the rhythm steady. I find the colour choices very sophisticated.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to blog listings