In the work of Elliott Jamal Robbins (b. 1988), politics of identity, race and intersectionality are approached as minefields for the exploration of fantasy and subjectivity, rather than simply discursive territories to be picked apart. Robbins constructs scenes and avatars which invite confrontation in the face of cultural cognitive dissonance. The work is colored by powerful interests–recognizable habitués, imposing individuals, pop culture references, interracial strangers at Western-themed locales— and is ultimately a reckoning with the lived experience of representation. We often see what we want to see measured against what we ought to see; we become who we are in the confrontation of what is there. Reflecting on such matters, Robbins has written about his work:
“Through the use of appropriated and self-generated imagery and text, as well as the inclusion of the black male cartooned figure, the viewer is presented with a disjointed narrative. The narrative in question is an exploration of the intersection of societal readings of a black body, as well as a subjective experience, and the dichotomies to be found between. By collaging together bits of text, and the inclusion of a black figure, my work examines experience, with no concrete conclusions to be drawn or clear distinctions that can delineate the personal and the political. This body of work is as much a personal narrative as it is an interrogation of the performative nature of blackness and masculinity.”