More used to travelling further afield throughout Scotland and Europe, Iona was confined during lockdown with her forthcoming solo show temporarily postponed. Undeterred, she took to meandering the streets of Glasgow and surrounding areas, sketchbook in hand, absorbing and documenting places that were usually busy and populated. Exploring concepts of identity, time and space Iona believes that the more she revisits the place, the deeper it gets ingrained subconsciously. This suite of sketchbook notes reflects her emotional response to the events we have all lived through during the pandemic, and has provided her with a rich source of drawings to be further developed back in the studio.
“Location is used as a starting point for all my work. Through walking, I absorb and document places from busy cities to remote landscapes. I enjoy being a Flâneur, exploring concepts of identity, time and space. I believe the more I revisit a place, the further it gets ingrained subconsciously.
Back in the studio, I use surfaces and memories collected from my work on location as a starting point to explore further possibilities. Often, paintings end up looking far removed from their source drawings as the experience has become personalised, allowing the paint to take its own path.” Iona Roberts.
Iona Roberts graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with a First Class Honours in Fine Art Painting (2015) and the Royal Drawing School Postgraduate Programme (2016). Iona’s work was selected for the Federation of British Artists (FBA) Futures exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London in 2016. She was awarded the the Royal Drawing School Pignano residency (2017) and the Richard Ford Award residency to Madrid at the Prado (2017); Trustees' Prize at the Royal Drawing School 2015-16 end of year exhibition; the Stevenston Painting Award at the Royal Scottish Academy New Contemporaries Exhibition (2016), and the Catriona White Prize for Distinction in Drawing from Observed Reality (2015). She was selected to participate in the Compass Gallery New Generation Show, followed by her debut solo show in 2018.
Education
2015: Royal Drawing School scholarship
2011- 2015: Edinburgh College of Art: Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours, Fine Art Painting
Awards and Exhibitions:
2020 – Shortlisted Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
Painting Commission for a five-star hotel at Hyde Park Corner
Residency at Skalloway, Shetland Islands
‘21st Century Women’ at Clydebank Museum’s Backdoor Gallery, with
Compass Gallery
2019 – British Art Fair, Saatchi Gallery, London with Compass Gallery
Contemporary Scottish Landscape Paintings Exhibition, ASPECT, Royal
Institute, Glasgow
Residency at Dumfries House, Royal Drawing School
Solo exhibition Compass Gallery – postponed due to Covid 19
2018 - Compass Gallery Winter Exhibition
Edinburgh Art Fair, Arusha Gallery
Index Exhibition, Stoke Newington Library Gallery, London
Royal Drawing School Buckingham Palace Fundraising event
2018 – Debut Solo Exhibition, ‘Travels & Translations’ at Compass Gallery
London Art Fair, Compass Gallery
2017 – Royal Drawing School residency, Pignano, Italy
Richard Ford Award travel to study in Madrid at the collection at the Prado
Museum
Royal Drawing School Buckingham Palace Fundraising Event
Isle of Iona residency
London Art Fair with Compass Gallery
2016 - Winner of the Trustees' Prize, Royal Drawing School 2015-16 End of Year
Exhibition, London
Best of the Drawing Year 2015- 16 at Christie's, London
Winner of the Stevenston Painting Award, Royal Scottish Academy New
Contemporaries Exhibition:
FBA Futures, Mall Galleries FBA (Federation of British Artists) Members'
favourite graduates of 2015
Awarded RSA New Contemporary, Royal Scottish Academy
2015 - Awarded Catriona White Prize for Distinction in Drawing from Observed
Reality
2015 - Compass Gallery Summer Exhibition - Paintings and Drawings chosen to be
exhibited alongside artists such as Barbara Rae and Joan Eardley
2015 - Compass Gallery's New Generation Show
2015 - Graduate Degree Show, Edinburgh College of Art
A Spotlight on Iona Roberts : Glasgow urban landscapes
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Iona Roberts
Central Station Clock
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Iona Roberts
Clyde Water Notes, Corn Moon
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Iona Roberts
Clyde, this Ship, flower moon
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Iona Roberts
Corn Moon, River Clyde, 2020
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Iona Roberts
Garden Notes, Lockdown, 2020
Sold
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Iona Roberts
Glasgow Necropolis, Summer
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Iona Roberts
Glasgow University cloisters
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Iona Roberts
Glasgow University cloisters, 2
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Iona Roberts
Glasgow University Reflections
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Iona Roberts
Glasgow University
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Iona Roberts
Linn Park, Snow Moon, 2021
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Iona Roberts
Mono no Aware
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Iona Roberts
Phillip Glass - from my Room, 2021
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Iona Roberts
Suadade, Clyde
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Iona Roberts
These Buildings look like Multiplying Cells
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Iona Roberts
Train Dreams, Glasgow Central
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Iona Roberts
Queen's Park, summer rain
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Iona Roberts
Waverley, flower moon
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Iona Roberts
Whitelee Windmills, Lock down bike ride
Sold
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Iona Roberts
Light House, Early Winter
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Iona Roberts
Lighthouse, grey day
Sold
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Iona Roberts
Merchant City, Winter
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Iona Roberts
West George Street
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Iona Roberts
Clyde Inpernamence of figures