"I’m an artist, a teacher, a father, and a husband – though that order fluctuates regularly. I live in a 100-year-old house, in the town I was born, and I teach at the high school I graduated from. Louisiana “bookends” my pilgrimage. CalArts outfitted my art and philosophy. UCLA cultivated it. Los Angeles gave way to Houston. Houston gave way to a studio fire and creative output shifted to my growing family. Louisiana called. We answered. I’ve exhibited from Los Angeles to New York, Houston to Frankfurt, and several places in between. My current works explore color, line, form, and pattern and are created on usedfield book paper. I began working with field books after a hurricane blew mytree and treehouse onto a neighbor’s property, exposing a trove of material.She had boxes and boxes of these old books. I was enchanted. The paper isstormproof. It’s infused with resin and has an inherent object-ness. The originalcode-like markings make for dynamic and romantic springboards ofcompositional play. I react to it. My son tells me these works are treasure maps. Isay treasure chests."​— Robbie Austin