Rob Ventura, Leopard II, 2022

Materials: Oil on linen

Artist Bio: Rob Ventura (b. 1989) is an emerging mixed-media artist whose work includes paintings, drawings, ceramics, and photographs of organic forms. Ventura depicts surrealist-inspired flowers, microbes, and a diversity of cellular entities. Phantasgmagorical lifeforms germinate through automatism in a process that mirrors natural evolution. Imagery is often directly inspired by anatomical botanical illustrations of flowers and fauna, as well as art historical still-life painting.The surfaces of Ventura’s work--whether it be oil paint, ceramic, charcoal, or oil pastel--are applied as a dense web of interlocking gestures, reminiscent of New York School Abstraction.

Ventura lives and works in Hoboken, NJ.

Artist Statement: As an abstract artist, I am interested in organic and biological forms as a means of generating imagery and conceptual unity. Whether I’m working in oil paint, ceramic, photography, or a drawing medium, I like to create images that are expressively reminiscent of plant life or cellular forms. Often, my works are directly inspired by anatomical botanical illustrations of flowers and fauna, as well as art historical still-life painting. Yet, I am interested in the creation of new biological lifeforms, generating my own surreal plantlike forms in a process that mirrors natural evolution.