Robert Windle Fine Art

One of the passions of my life is listening to great jazz. The music has the capacity to transport my mind and soul to another plane. When I close my eyes the melody and syncopation is transformed into a dazzling array of colors punctuated by lines created by the rhythm. I have often used this powerful visual stimulation as a catalyst in my work.

One hot, humid summer night in Manhattan I climbed out onto the fire escape through the window of the sixth floor loft that I had exchanged for my studio in San Francisco. Across the narrow alley I could simultaneously view two floors of dance studios. The dancers’ movements curiously appeared to be choreographed to the John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins compositions that I was listening to. The hook was set. I grabbed my sketchbook and began to draw.

The juxtaposition of improvisational dance interpretations of jazz compositions and overlapping layers of gesture, color and texture have been the primary focus of my work ever since. The body of work includes a large number of paintings, drawings, digital prints, monotypes and multimedia performance collaborations.