Sculpture

Inspired by my experiences as an educator and fabricator, my studio practice embodies a preoccupation with how and where form is imbued with meaning. Presently, construction materials, building principles, and the contrasting effect between degradation and “new-ness” are examined in my sculptures through a lens of formalism and material. Invoking elements of structure and functionality, my artworks are deliberately ambiguous but not ambivalent to the their associations within the built environment.

A.I.R. Studio Paducah

In May 2014 I had the honor of being chosen for a residency at A.I.R. Studio. It was a wonderful opportunity to be involved in an artists' community and have the time and space for my work. My proposal was to create a visual exploration of the grates and grills of Paducah, Kentucky as non traditional landscape elements. Paducah's old buildings remind me of the pressed brick and architectural flourishes we have in Baltimore.

Figures

Inspired by personal experiences to guide my work, I create figurative assemblages out of found objects. My materials are mainly cast-off furniture parts, aged metals and old hardware found weathered in the woods. I construct my art using basic tools such as saw, hammer, rivet gun, sander, screw driver. Typically I will attach the pieces with bolts, rivets, screws, or nails,  but on occasion I will use a welder to fuse metals.

Birdland Gallery One

Bird imagery, with its rich abundance of visual metaphor, has always fascinated me.  It has taken shape in "Birdland", the title of my series of found object wall assemblages.

As if risen from the ashes like a phoenix, a multitude of  detritus--aged metals, wood, castoff furniture parts and hardware--have materialized into avian forms of fancy.  Shaped by my vision and the tools and processes of my studio, I re-interpret and honor the unique histories betrayed by each weathered component.

Six

These are wall hung sculptures. I had started using pine wood that I had collected but these pieces still included a variety of materials.
  Some of the materials for these works include pine wood, dog fennel, marsh elder, hibiscus, willow and crepe myrtle. Most of the materials I collected myself. Sometimes someone may trim a tree and give me the remnants.
At this point in time my ideas are starting to expand but there is a basic underlying grid still  applied to theses works.

The Headless Horseman of Furnace Hills & Other Tales

"The Headless Horseman of Furnace Hills & Other Tales" is an musical exploration of folktales and legends of Maryland. Rob Wilson revisits the ghost stories, songs and legends of the Chesapeake and surrounding areas, reworking each regional narrative to fit his own raucous brand of creative Americana. Themes include: The Goat Man of P.G. County, Black Aggie, The Headless Horseman of Furnace Hills, Puckam and other local anecdotes and legends.
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