John Robshaw

The Style Files: Conversations with Creatives

After earning a fine arts degree at Pratt and studying traditional block printing in China, John Robshaw journeyed to India to find natural indigo dye for his paintings. Instead, he fell in love with the fabric-making traditions of the local artisans. The hands-on immediacy and vitality of textiles piqued what was to become a lifelong fascination. His signature look was crafted: an updated spin on the traditional, handmade object; a vibrant mix of sophistication and romantic allure. "I want all the colors, techniques and designs from each culture to blend. I redesign them and mix up the processes. I edit them, learn from them, make them my own, but retain their essence. John's forays in Asia have taken him to the villages of Gujarat and Rajasthan; he has made court batiks in Yogakarta, Indonesia; block printed sarongs alongside a family who has been printing for four generations; he has vegetable-dyed ikats in Thailand. In India, John found that he could apply a painterly aesthetic to traditional methods by mixing up patterns and overlapping them in a more formally artistic way.