ROBIN HOLDER
(b. 1952, Chicago, IL; lives and works in West Milford, NJ)
robin holder is an American visual artist and activist known for her mixed-media printmaking and paintings. Her work explores themes of racial and spiritual identity, social justice, and personal experience. Holder has created numerous public art installations, including those in New York and New Jersey, and her works are part of collections such as the Library of Congress and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. She has been active in arts education for over 30 years. Holder has received several awards, including grants from the Brooklyn Arts Council and the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.
Children’s Art Carnival affiliation: Teaching Artist, circa 1978–1987
Discovery, 1986
Linoleum print with stencils
17 × 22 in.
Courtesy of the artist
robin holder began the Warrior Women Wizards: Mystical Magical Mysteries (1985–2006) series while teaching at the Carnival and engaging in, “...many long conversations about spirituality and metaphysics,” with Carnival executive director Betty Blayton-Taylor.
In this body of work, holder mines her own interiority to present a universal inquiry into the spiritual and emotional power of women. The three works reveal different stages of enlightenment, reflecting what she described as, “...an ongoing exploration of the internal infrastructure that serves as my spiritual armature. The images unveil the memories, visions, hopes, rage, anguish, and thanksgivings that are etched on my soul…The concepts I focus on revolve around balancing states of empowerment, humility, clarity, and deception." Visually, the depictions of women enveloped in flora and fauna speak to the spiritual forces of nature and its power to facilitate inner peace, balance, and harmony.
For holder, the Carnival was also a space where deep relationships were forged. She and fellow teaching artist Steve Mayo were life partners from 1985 until his passing in 2021.
MINI ORAL HISTORY
