Drawing little universes on any scrap of paper handy as a child, he “fell in love with fantasy”. Not straying from these early beginnings, as an adult, he became “fiercely dedicated to keeping this fantasy alive”. Collaborating with teams of dancers, installation artists, and body painters, today he creates large-scale worlds; The fractal patterns of the dancers are in harmony with the surrounding landscape.
Lyrics by Ella Liakos
Photo by Rob Woodcox
“I have had these two rebirths in my life.” Rob gets involved, and goes out on a lunch date with his friends in Mexico City where he lives.
“One of them was adopted, which I don’t remember, because I was a kid. But it was a process that definitely shaped my entire childhood and outlook on life. The other one was coming out as an outsider.” He remembers his adoptive family telling him “We chose you, we love you”.
“That was such a powerful gift for me, because I remember thinking, I belong in this world because someone chose me.” The perspective she gave him on love and communication can be seen visually and in the titles of the Dancer series, “Unity”, “Interconnection” and “Love Not Lost”.
“The goal is to celebrate the idea that we are all part of the same being, this planet Earth.”
His series, Dancer (as the title suggests), captures dancers of all disciplines, colors, and identities intertwined together. They hover in the air despite gravity like naked muscular figures painted on the ceiling of a chapel. Choreographed together, jet jumps and handstands create life-affirming scenes witnessed by the waterfalls and red canyons. His ethereal imagery includes real, digitally-mastered human pyramids and other acrobatic feats. Rob decides to keep people in the dark about which feats of balance and athleticism were real or altered, though, he adds, "everything is shot on location" to emphasize the fact that the light and scenery are real.
"We all have the potential to rise above these constructs of society."
The inspiration for these real-life scenes always starts with a specific concept. It is sometimes derived from "sentimental journey" that journey between the higher stages of travel or reverence after a separation. Other times, a simple background is enough to spark an idea, which was the case with the dancers soaring into the sky in his pictures The Wave and Sky Climb. But one theme pervades all of his work, the seeds of which were sown as a boy exploring mountains for weeks at a time in his youth. This was a custom he continued later in life, with each expedition hearing separate tales of the same story from the locals he met along the way.
wave
sky climb“I was seeing with my own eyes, communities in rural areas being affected by climate change. I remember being in the Himalayas on my Everest expedition and the weather was surprisingly dry - all the locals were talking about how it usually rains in that season, but it just doesn't come anymore anymore.” At the time, Rob's career was veering in a more fashion-focused direction, but hearing these stories would eventually change his course of action. “Where I think our society lets us down the most, is in those issues in regard to nature. We are nature, we depend so heavily on it, the air we breathe, the water we drink. All of these things started to become clear to me as I got older. The root of many of the issues is This disconnect between modern human society and nature.
“People who have been marginalized in any way, at the end of the day, just deserve to be happy, they just deserve to enjoy their lives.”
Instead of depicting the darkness of these perceptions, he presents humans in their most beautiful light. in cooperation and communication with each other and their surroundings. When asked why he chose this approach, he unhesitatingly points to the fact that the media is already dominated by a mentality of fear. "I don't really want to contribute to fear, I want to contribute to hope." Where his images can represent a fight against environmental disaster, they amplify the beauty of nature, inspiring love and concern for what otherwise would be lost.
“The goal is to celebrate the idea that we are all part of the same organism, this planet Earth — and we all have the ability to rise above these constructs of society. We all have the ability to be there for each other, support each other and celebrate all that is life, which It manifests itself in many different ways, only within the human race."
Celebration is a central theme in his images and the Queer Love series is no different. It celebrates the joy of people who "go against" society. Referring to social media hashtag trends such as "black joy" or "strange joy" as a small revolution in a media landscape that often associates these groups with trauma or tragedy, he says: "People who have been marginalized in any way, at the end of the day They only deserve to be happy, they only deserve to enjoy their lives.” When watching Disney films that celebrate the princes and princesses who left "the rest of the acting" growing up, the weight of his position as a media creator sees an opportunity to uplift and champion his community, "through simple, beautiful art."
"I feel like if people see themselves, that's it. Seeing yourselves represented in this community means you matter, it shows you care, it shows there's a community out there for you. In the past when people didn't see themselves on screen, whether it was about the gender roles they had It gets blown up on screen like “Men do this, women do that, non-binary people don’t, or trans people don’t exist.” “When that was the status quo, that was the problem. It made people feel left out and gave them nowhere to be seen.”
“I was able to take this journey and move myself to a place where I focused on the positive, focused on the beauty around me and surrounded myself with like-minded people and now live in this beautiful reality.”
The artist's biography Robb describes his experience of "coming out" as "a social passage just necessary from a lack of education and acceptance among the larger population". But being an eccentric taught him that we had a choice in this matter. "In this world full of things that feel like obligation, we can choose which path we take through all of those constructs and we can choose our family." Feeling empowered to choose seems to be part of the reason he shifted his focus from the loss of the world, to its beauty — but there is another reason for the approach. The universes he creates in his art, he creates in life as well and for the same reason.
Personal Photos
Iceland Series (portraits)
“I believe that art is a universal language that transcends all barriers of language, religion and politics.”
“We live in a society where wealthy individuals have the most resources and others struggle to survive, and at the end of the day, I want to inspire people. I want to show people that you know what, that may be the reality, but there are ways to enjoy any stage of your life.” "There are ways to contribute and we don't have to keep subscribing to this story. We can create our own communities and environments. It's something I did myself."
"It's strange to be here," he muses about where photography has taken him over the past 12 years. “I used to work in a pizzeria and was barely able to pay my rent when I was 19 until 25. I was able to make this journey and transition myself to a place where I focused on the positive, focused on the beauty around me and surrounded myself with like-minded people I now live in.” In this beautiful reality. Attributing his focus on beauty to create his "beautiful reality" explains why he takes this same approach to calling within his art, by reflecting aspects of the world he wants to see more of.
With this worldview, Rob plans to direct and shoot a film that works with organizations on the front lines of environmental change, showcasing their hopefully inspiring work. I believe that art is a universal language that transcends all barriers of language, religion and politics. Art has this amazing ability to make you feel things and when you feel things, you take action and I think that's the role art plays in our society. It allows people to either cry or laugh or get angry and they kind of have a response to those emotions and I think that's a beautiful thing and I think artists should feel responsible, they should care about our planet and our world. Every fight, whether it's for gay rights, black or transgender rights, there are people in our historical past who paved the way for us to be where we are now."
Aside from his ability to effect change, it is the topic of beauty that Rob Woodcox always seems to come back to. “Art is very powerful. It has always been a very necessary tool in this world and at the end of the day it is what makes life interesting. All forms of expression; art, music, dance, photography, cinema, this is what makes life interesting. What would life be without artists?”
Ella Liakos
Ella Liascos is an Australian writer based in Byron Bay, who explores how we can renew our relationship with ourselves and the planet.