Katya Robin
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petit genre
documenting daily life
petit genre
documenting daily life
Nightshift
Watercolour, A1
Watercolour, A1
Mopping
Ink & Pastel, A2
Ink & Pastel, A2
Lobby Boy
Watercolour & Pastel, A2
Watercolour & Pastel, A2
Petit genre is an art history term for depictions of everyday life, in contrast to the grand genre of ‘important’ subjects.
These three drawings belong to a series depicting cleaners. They are painted using Prussian Blue, a highly staining pigment, with yellow acrylic accents suggesting plastic cleaning equipment.
Mopping was included in the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2019. Four further large drawings from this series are showing in Cupboard Love.
Watercolour & Graphite on Sketchbook Pages, 2023
Sketches of a yellow skip in a parking bay. Pages from a sketchbook arranged in a 4×4 grid as a time-lapse sequence.
Watercolour & Graphite on Sketchbook Pages, 2023
Sketches of a parking bay, arranged in a 5 x 4 grid, like a work schedule or surveillance feed.
nature morte
revisiting still life
Ink & Pastels, A2
Ink & Pastels, A2
Ink & Pastels, A2
Graphite & Watercolour, A2
Watercolour, A2
Ink & Pastels A2 approx
Acrylic on Cardboard
Acrylic on Cardboard
Marker and Watercolour, A2
Monoprint, A3
Graphite & Gouache, A4
Graphite & Gouache, A3
Graphite & Salt, A3
Graphite & Salt, A3
Graphite & Gouache, A3 approx
Nature morte, also known as still life, traditionally depicts everyday objects symbolising deeper themes:
vanitas
transience & mortality
I apply these themes to contemporary domestic objects such as plants, food, and domesticated animals, isolating them on white backgrounds—a style often used in commercial or scientific imagery for its clarity. However, my style is instinctive and gestural. I work quickly, in short stages, as my energy fades too soon for longer sessions. This also reflects the vitality and fragility of daily life that is encapsulated in the concept of nature morte.
figure vivant
drawing lives
Torso 01
Pastel on Paper, A0
Pastel on Paper, A0
Torso 02
Pastel on Paper, A0
Pastel on Paper, A0
Pastel on Paper, A0
Figure vivant meaning ‘living figure’ in French, refers to drawing from a live model rather than from plaster casts of classical figures. The Torso series occupies a space between these traditions — self-portraits that variously evoke medical diagrams alongside classical and historical references.
The human torso, particularly as a fragmented relic, beauty, endurance, and vulnerability. This series of larger-than-life torso drawings reflects on the experience of critical illness and surgery, visualising resilience and recovery.
Torso 01
A diagrammatic drawing made with friable chalk pastels, mapping the traces left by medical procedures
Torso 02
Painted with earthy colours. References include: shiny armour, Demeter and Ceres, Classical goddesses of agriculture.
Torso 03
References include: patinated copper, and leather jerkin—a protective garment, typically worn by manual labourers in the Medieval period.
Drawings from SHOWWOMEN: Extraordinary Working-Class Women in UK Circus and Variety (Carnesky Ltd.), Graphite, Watercolor, & Pastels on paper, A3
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blood vessels
blood vessels
Blood Vessels
series of watercolors on paper, dimensions vary, approx 40 x 35 cm
Blood is both life-giving and life-threatening - fluid yet volatile. Blood carries oxygen and sustains life, yet it can also stagnate, thicken, or spread infection. For me, living with multiple bloody conditions means balancing the risk of excessive bleeding or dangerous clotting.
When painting this series I was thinking of both transfusion units (i.e. blood bags) and visceral organs. I used Perylene Maroon and Lunar Black watercolours to suggest the density of blood as well as the Classical concept of the Four Humours.