Robin Dluzen: Poetry is Practical
A Solo Exhibition at AdventureLand Gallery

Though the imagery I feature in my work may seem varied --the transmission towers, the man-made landscapes and the appropriated line drawings-- together they create a composite picture of the concept of “home.” While some evoke very personal notions of home for myself, like the absent-minded doodles my father made as he related a story about working in an iron foundry as a young man, others encompass a wider scope via the network of power lines from the small, Southeast Michigan town where I attended college. Still others, like the appropriated hardware illustrations, will be familiar to a broad spectrum of viewers.

Compounded with the content imparted through the representational imagery is the meaning imbued within the sourced, recycled, utilitarian and throwaway materials I employ. Ephemeral media like brown paper lawn refuse bags and cardboard contribute to a “here today, gone tomorrow,” fleeting sense of place and time. But, home is not just a place of fondness and memories; it’s also the conflation of landscape, labor and socioeconomics that lay the groundwork of identity.