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Cervo

The Cabin Essence - Artists in Residence - report by Robert Wicks

09.01.2025

My name is Robert Samuel Wicks and I am a painter from Canterbury, England. My current practice focuses on concepts of theoretical physics and their implications for the human condition. Presently, I am working on a series of paintings around the subject of black holes. 

Upon first hearing about the Cabin Essence programme, I knew that it was something which I had to do. I’ve had the privilege of regularly coming to Zermatt as a working musician for the past seven years, yet as an artist, an occupation which is rapidly coming to the forefront of my creative endeavours, the opportunity to work in such a special place was quite simply impossible to pass up. 

Usually most of my work is comprised of fairly large-format oil paintings, yet due to the nature of this residency, working on such a scale was wildly impractical. Added to this, a painting of that size usually takes a minimum of three to four weeks to complete, meaning that I would only have time for one! So I resolved to go against my normal process of making one large work very slowly, to making many smaller ones very fast, which provided me with the first necessary departure from my comfort zone for this project. (I even ended up painting on one piece of scrap board that was presumably once part of the hotel!)

As a painter, the truly unbelievable mountain scenery along with the quite particular quality of light provide no shortage of inspiration, however, it immediately felt too obvious and a little too safe to focus on those themes alone. I’ve never been in the business of ‘pretty pictures’.

Whilst it is true that Zermatt is located in the midst of an almost obscene level of natural beauty, the character of the town goes far beyond the dimensions of its famed aesthetic. There are already plenty of beautifully made images of the Matterhorn and the stunning peaks of the high Alps, I felt I had very little new insight to contribute to this topic. Therefore I decided to take a more immediate and experiential approach to my work, which would describe my day-to-day experience of Zermatt, beyond the views, beyond the postcards and beyond the obvious… 

I wanted my work to reflect the smaller, situational experiences of life in a luxury ski resort, through the lens of my current artistic practice. The results were varied and surprising, with a familiar nod to the absurd.

Indeed, it is possible to describe a lot of the things you see in that environment as being far removed from a lot of realities of life in most of the world, yet oddly close to others, of which I could not otherwise have conceived. 

Photos: ©Nickeysworld

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