Robbie McKinstry

Year of birth: 1994.
Where do you live: I live and work in London.
Your education: Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation) – Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne.
Describe your art in three words: Intimate, exposing, playful.
Your discipline: Figurative oil painting, drawing, and animation.
Website | Instagram

Robbie McKinstry | Self Portrait

How has your formal education in Animation influenced your painting and drawing techniques?

Often painting feels like the opposite of animation, I started painting to find an outlet different from the fast-paced digital nature of animation. There’s a challenge in having to labour and build over a single image that isn’t quite the same in animation. That being said, years of animating have helped develop my drawing practice to help me plan the paintings, it can also be very experimental which is something very important to my practice.

How do the everyday moments and daydreams influence your artwork?

I like capturing moments that seem quite normal and thoughtless, but have a beauty in their intimacy. The daydreams and memories are often loaded with desire, which I try to capture on the canvas, through the image and how the paint is applied on the surface.

Which aspects of early 20th-century modernist art resonate with you the most, and how do they influence your work?

I’m always inspired by the way people took modernism from Europe and used it to give them a sense of purpose or belonging in their communities. Australia has a wealth of modernist painters. These are often what you would see growing up, and eventually, I started to idolise them, but every country has its unique modernists. There is a sense of community and an ability to express individualism and diversity that excites me.

Robbie McKinstry | Luciano

Can you discuss your method of starting with quick sketches and developing them into full-fledged pieces?

I spend most mornings drawing ideas on paper and throwing them on the floor, then when I get stuck I shuffle through the pile looking for something that might help. Sometimes to work out a composition I have to draw it a few times, moving things around on the page. When that happens it feels like the same process of animating.

What role does your reference image folder play in your creative process?

The reference images often help me when I get stuck on how to paint something, or what colours to use. I’ll also just recreate a painting through my drawings and adapt them into new pieces. I try to keep a folder so that I don’t get lost looking for references online.

Robbie McKinstry | Red Bathroom | 2024

Which contemporary artists do you find inspiring, and why?

Cecily Brown is somebody I can always obsess over. Somaya Critchlow was somebody who made me realise how powerful small works could be. Recently I’ve been looking at a lot of Victor Manand Matthew Wong. A lot of artists in NYC blow my mind, so I’ll just leave it at Doron Langberg is a literal god. Rong Bao had a show recently that really blew me away. It’s normally people who don’t hold back and aren’t afraid to show it all, that gets me inspired. Adult content creators as well, I think they’ve influenced art in an amazing way that often gets left unsaid.

How does living in London influence your artwork compared to your experiences in Australia?

London has access to such a huge amount of art that you just don’t have the ability to see in Australia. It works both ways because Australia has an incredible ecosystem of art that you can’t see anywhere else, but it’s nice to finally be able to see a lot of the artworks that have inspired me for years in person. There’s such a rich history of artists moving to London to find their paths despite its difficulties, and that energy can be felt in so many ways across the city.