Robbie Fife (b.1988) is a contemporary British artist, whose work reflects his interest in the patterns and movements of the natural world and the environment in which he lives. In his paintings we see possible musings on portals and thresholds, through which he reflects on the imaginary or unseen with suggestions of interior realms below our surface view but also beyond our conscious perception. Applying these ideas to his paintings offers us the freedom to explore and be inspired by the knowledge and belief systems that influence his compositions. In Cold Plunge (2024), for instance, we see an explicit reference to another realm, shown in the meteorite falling from what is perhaps comparable to a planetary eclipse – around which an illuminated bridge binds one world to its companion orb in the purple space above. There are echoes of these thresholds suggested in Attending to Fallen Feathers (2024), in which Fife alludes to Robert Macfarlane’s discussion of ‘deep time’ in their location under the feet of the contemplative figure. According to Macfarlane, deep time is ‘the chronology of the underland’, an awareness of which ‘might help us to see ourselves as part of a web of gift, inheritance and legacy stretching over millions of years past and millions to come’. Fife’s exploration of what lies beneath appears in a number of his paintings, through which he depicts sources of contemplation and communication, talismans and superstition. His work thus responds to Macfarlane’s observation that ‘the underland is vital to the material structures of contemporary existence, as well as to our memories, myths and metaphors’. It is in this light that Fife’s paintings have been described as ‘gently surreal’, rendering inner landscapes of consciousness which whilst artistically free in their expression hold contradictions; Fife has described the atmosphere in some of his pieces as anchored by a comfortable claustrophobia. Thus similarly to the tension and movement generated by dissonant music, Fife employs pictorial ‘bristles’ to alleviate and lighten his compositions with his work reminding us to welcome discomfort as much as contentment.

Spirals, circles, and orbs are recurring themes in Fife’s recent work, and serve in one sense as ‘negative space’, a ‘punctuation point’ in his compositions to break up the narrative. Yet the inevitability of such phenomena in nature is abundant and found in, for example, concentric circles in trees, the motion of water, snail shells and ammonite fossils, the flight paths of moths, falling leaves, the double helix of DNA and in the movement of the heavenly bodies. For Fife, ‘everything oscillates – everything has a frequency’, energy surrounds us. This circular energy is present in Old World Dancer (2024) and can be seen to radiate from the central figure whose gestures appear slow but purposeful. There is an equally quiet and steady pace depicted in Embody the Tiger, Crush Fewer Snails (2025), where the individual’s movements are measured, and gestured to in the symbols traced before him. In common with his work more generally, these paintings are also indicative of the fellowship between land and body, nature and consciousness, occasioning a mindfulness of this accord as we respond to the intersections between them. Reflecting on the power of these connections and testing our interactions with nature are key features of Fife’s creative expression. In this way, his paintings engage with the work of artists such as Steve Dilworth (b.1949), whose sculptures also consider the intersectional points between living things, material reality, belief and the unconscious. Returning to Cold Plunge, for instance, a river traces the geography of the land down into a valley as it passes through the mountains on its journey southwards, whilst a winding road reminiscent of the markings of Aboriginal paintings maps the landscape in Attending to Fallen Feathers. Yet by introducing the contemplative figures in these pieces Fife highlights the inherent association between nature and humanity, and in so doing not only nods to Macfarlane’s discussion of deep time but also to our place within that chronological narrative. Together, these ideas run throughout his paintings and are rooted in the relationship with his home and surroundings in North Yorkshire.

A number of Fife’s paintings explore the power of talismans and totems, but we also see evidence of his sensitivity to the phenomenology of labyrinths, divination, and dowsing, with these themes demonstrating his wider engagement with history and philosophy, global cultures, superstitions, and myth. Divination is inferred, for example, in Plant Charmer (2024), where a man stands in rural dress holding his hand above the verdant leaves of the plant beneath. Reposed in his posture there is a stillness rendered in this image, yet their coexistence is evocative of not only the commune between man and nature but also in the potential for transformative energy moving between them. In subtle ways, then, Fife’s pictorial exploration of the intimate links between us, the natural world, and these lines or layers of imperceptible energy make implicit reference to Albert Einstein’s law of conservation of energy, a theory which posits that there is a constant presence of energy that transforms from one type to another. There are labyrinthine qualities in Old Flowing Steps (2024) and A Slow Greeting (2024), in which we are reminded also of Classical myth and thus ancient knowledge and belief systems. Labyrinths hold material, spatial, and spiritual connotations and in their circular or cyclical pattern, as the medievalist Penelope Reed Doob notes, ‘they describe both the linearity and the architecture of space and time’. Furthermore, from a topological point of view, maintains English literature professor Paul Harris, the labyrinth not only fits into the motions of the heavenly bodies, it finds its symmetrical balance in the earthly underworld. In Fife’s depictions, labyrinths provide the means through which to reflect on interior states of consciousness and the opponents we find within, and in this way are also indicative of his comfort in rendering spaces of tension and contradictions. Across literature, history, and art, labyrinths are often considered sites of temporal and structural paradox or ambiguity, in that depending on each individual visual perspective they simultaneously incorporate ideas of order and disorder, artistry and chaos, clarity and confusion. Subsequently, there are suggestions that in both its symbolic and material form there exists a duality in the labyrinth, one which is mirrored in our spiritual and corporeal experiences and rendered thoughtfully by Fife in Old Flowing Steps and A Slow Greeting. These pieces, specifically, inspire the viewer to journey inwards to ask questions of what might have been lost – whether emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually, for instance. Moreover, by employing the symbolism of a labyrinth these two works offer an avenue of contemplation and growth that echoes a philosophy of thought discussed by the naturalist and poet Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), who observed that it is not until we are lost do we begin to understand or find ourselves.

Intentionality, energy, and consciousness coalesce in Fife’s new work, through which he explores internal worlds and the unseen, the intangible communication between our bodies and nature. ‘Thinking through imagery’ is at the heart of these seemingly transient realms. Fife ruminates on these concepts in the dreamscape depicted in A Quiet Tuning (2025), where a barefooted man lies with his ear and hands to the ground as if listening intuitively to the Earth’s rhythmic sighs as a buzzard flies overhead. The slightly curved lines next to both the figure and the fallen feather are suggestive of a vibrational energy emitting from one subject to the other, imparting ancient wisdom to the receiver. Through his paintings, Fife invites viewers to experience a slight shift of perception, and thus discern connections between the things that emerge within his pieces. The subjects in his compositions commune inherently with one another, although this communication is often inferred rather than explicitly defined. Upon further examination of A Quiet Tuning, there exists suggestions of a symbiotic relationship, for example, between the copper wire entwining the branch at the centre of the painting, their rootedness to the ground or threshold from which they form, and the delicate release of aether into the sky above. The placement of the coiled copper endows the scene further with a sense of reciprocity in its application as an aerial transceiver, through which energy moves in two directions. These unspoken sounds and the bilateral interactions between his subjects making reference to both literal and metaphorical growth through a balance of energy dispersion. The aether emerging from this alliance is reminiscent of Classical notions of celestial spheres and the transcendental, giving viewers pause in pictorial form once more of the imperceptible and the infinite. There are similar traces of aether in Cold Plunge, in which the river bed appears animated in its illumination. In his depiction of such vitality, Fife draws implicitly on elemental, symbolic, and spiritual links between the celestial bodies, light, energy, air, and motion. Connections such as these demonstrate Fife’s skill in conveying a range of emotions and ideas onto a visual plane, and in so doing we find his body of work speaks to the language and potential power of contemporary painting. His pieces serve as a thought process into the ancient and the mystic, and through his examination of knowledge and belief systems Fife finds the ‘equity of all things’ to be a compelling and unifying force.

Fife’s paintings combine influences from a broad range of styles and artists, which culminates in a collective body of works that are connected by their ‘singular emphasis’. He has an ongoing interest in Indian miniature painting, and is particularly inspired by Pahari paintings from Northern India between the seventeenth and mid-nineteenth centuries – a style he has himself practiced for a short time. Fife’s body of work functions at multiple levels, and invites viewers’ engagement not only in the literal sense but also subconsciously. Guided by a desire not to overburden his pieces with information they each share a simplicity of sorts, in which there are creative spaces for viewers to observe unfolding narratives of Fife’s making.

Fife is at ease working in mixed media and without a defined hierarchy, experimenting with egg tempera and often employing watercolour, oil, acrylic, coloured pencil, and collage across his work. Experimental in approach, his pieces go through multiple revisions and often individual paintings comprise different media interwoven. The evolution of Fife’s creative choices can be traced through this process of reworking, and is evident in his paintings’ textural and compositional forms. The exhibition comprises ten paintings, half of which are egg tempera on clay board. Egg tempera is a new medium for Fife, whose application of this process is an exploration itself into ancient painting methods. It can be a painstaking process due to the delicate nature of the material – it works best when applied in thin layers and can lift easily when being over-painted. Learning to handle and work with this fragility aligns with Fife’s ongoing engagement with the surface finish and texture of a painting – its ‘weathering’ – as it foregrounds notions of time and labour in the object.

Fife was awarded his MFA in painting from The Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London (2014). He has twice been a recipient of the artist-in-residence programme established by The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation – in Connecticut, USA (Nov/Dec 2015) and at Carraig-na-gcat, Ireland (Sept 2019). He has exhibited at the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (2019; 2022), and is represented by Willoughby Gerrish.

Recent exhibitions include Ghosts in Sunlight, Willoughby Gerrish with Rory Mitchell, Thirsk Hall Sculpture Garden (2024); Native, Willoughby Gerrish, Thirsk Hall Sculpture Garden (solo, 2023); Stage, LLE Projects at Kingsgate Project Space, London (2023); Locals, Willoughby Gerrish, London (solo, 2022); Escape Routes, Oliver Projects, London (2022); Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2022); A Quiet Settling on Earth, millimetre02 at Kingsgate Project Space, London (2021); Kist, Oliver Projects, London (solo, 2021); Without You My Life Would Be Boring, Staffordshire Street Studios, London (2020); Used For Glue, Studio 2, Staffordshire Street Studios, London (2019); Odds, The Other MA (TOMA) at Royals Shopping Centre, Southend (2019); Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2019); 9 Artists: Thin House, London (2018); Nightswimming, LLE at Mission Gallery, Swansea, Wales (2018); Sightseers, g39, Cardiff, Wales (2018); ODDS, Studio 7, Assembly Point, London (2017); Outhouse, May Project, London (solo, 2016).

Essay by Dr Helen Metcalfe