Art today is often a hybrid social commodity with aesthetic values, and the artist is at times a protagonist. The artist journeys many paths in his search for the abstact only to find that the reality is as illusive as ever.

In fulfilling his philosophy, Robinson explores and broadens the scope of limitation of shapes and linear structures. This is seen in his recent assemblages in which he is better able to know the most paradoxical of all areas, in its simplicity juxtaposed against it's complexity - the geometry of nature.

The strenghts and idiosyntric nature of John Robinson's current exhibition are due to the artist's uncompromising vision and philosophical attitude, with the paintings and assemblages linking the artists vortex subjects of macro and microcosms with the more recent logical development of sculptural elements.

John Robinson identifies his personal images and symbolism with that of his constant environment for the past eight years. Moving from the urban sprawl of Melbourne to the undulating peaceful tranquility of the shimmering gums of the Bendigo rural region that refract in much the same tempo as his vortex paintings.

Robinson's mature visual response to nature is through the exposure of that with which he is best aquainted. In these recent paintings and assemblages the artist celebrates imagesand achieves a combination of personal poetic and intellectual responses.
Robinson in his vortex paintings has no doubt made masterful statements and in a sense his painting has become the blueprint for sculpture.

Extract from catalogue essay by Dr Ernest Smith
April 1999