Robert Bickel

Painter Robert Bickel works out of his studio in Federal Way, Washington, striving to merge the language of architecture with that of nature. Layering hard-edged, geometric line work over realistic sea and sky scapes, his work conveys the tenuous boundary between nature and science and portrays the beauty of cold sculptural geometries, challenging us to see the world a little differently.

His work has an affinity to the Deconstructivist Movement in architecture, which communicates chaos and fragmented order as a reaction to the conventionality of Modernism. Many years as a senior designer for architectural firms and working in interior design has inspired Bickel to pursue an aesthetic with notable references to the architectural principles of line, form, spacial proportion, and contrast. “The daily process of conceptualizing design ideas inevitably lead to me seeing the world composed of points, lines, and forms moving in space. The human brain visually processes particular realities within our physical world, subjective ones which are not rooted in absolutes but rather in abstracts. This is why doing ‘art’ is so satisfying; reinterpreting the abstractions of our visual world onto canvas.”

Primarily self-taught, Bickel has had numerous gallery shows around the Portland, Oregon area and his work has been acquired by many collectors around the PNW. He has acted as the judge for the SW Washington Artist Society’s annual art competition for several years in a row and taught art classes to its members.