Robyn Crosa

Artist Statement

As each of us heals and recovers from the dangers of a global pandemic, it is time to humble ourselves before nature rather than resist her power. Gourdgeous Goddess Gals are designed to celebrate the beauty of diversity in all natural things - specifically women! My spiritual symbols are made from organic elements that both cherish the feminine and highlight and respect the materials given to us by Mother Earth.
Indigenous people all over the world have long considered gourds to be a natural female symbol of the Divine Feminine. Designed from gourds in various shapes and sizes, Gourdgeous Goddess Gals represent the diversity of the beautiful female form and the power of fertility while counteracting the body image hatred issues facing women and girls in modern civilization. They are altar pieces for rituals, rites of passage, and a celebration of all that is feminine.
As women before us have invoked the power of the Great Mother, the embodiment of Nature, the Goddess in all her many forms to protect them during difficult times, as do my dolls. If we destroy nature, nature will destroy us. If we respect nature, nature will respect us.

Biography

Robyn Crosa is originally from the Gulf Coast of Florida. She moved to Atlanta with her family when she was nine years old, and lived in the Greater Atlanta area for most of her life. Recently, she decided to move back to Florida to be closer to family. She currently resides in Saint Petersburg, Florida.
She is a multi- talented, and multi- faceted artist and entertainer. The artist considers herself a Renaissance woman. She is also a devotee of the Great Mother Goddess. Her work encompasses a variety of different disciplines and mediums. She ties her work together with the common theme of her worship of the divine feminine. The artist believes that creative work is a form of worship and sacred ritual to the Great Mother Goddess of Nature. The artist has worked as an actress, singer, dancer, visual artist, and songwriter. She is also the Official Fortune Teller for The Dali Museum. Her Gourdgeous Goddess Gals have been featured as back ground art for the set of the Atlanta Filmed TV show "The Originals.
The artist style is folk art that is inspired by the works of indigenous people, as well as self taught folk artists such as Howard Finster, whose work was most notably on the cover of a "Talking Heads album
and Xavior Roberts who is the originator of the "Cabbage Patch Kids. Like these well known Georgia folk artists the artist is mostly self-taught. She creates her doll sculptures based on the natural shape of the wood and then embellishes them with wood burning techniques as well as acrylic paint and glued objects. Her first gourds were created as self portraits because she saw a basket of gourds on a table in an old country shop and it looked to her to be like the gourds were herself and her mother and sisters sitting together. This gave her the idea to personify them and take advantage of the natural feminine shape.
Her work has received an Honorable Mention in the school wide Dean's Art Award Contest in the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State University. She has also received a first place ribbon, a second place ribbon, and three third place ribbons at the Georgia Gourd Festival in Griffin, GA. Most recently they have been displayed at the Salvador Dali Museum Holiday Art Show in Saint Petersburg, FL; the Carrollwood Cultural Center in Tampa.; the Stageworks Theater in Tampa; The Pinellas Park Warehouse Arts District: the ArtsXchange in Saint Petersburg, Grand Central Theater Studio Gallery, The Morean Arts Center, and the Florida CraftArt Gallery. Robyn was also a winner of the Emerging Artist Grant for the Florida CraftArt Festival for 2020.

Exhibition History (CV)