Rob Niezen
Rob Niezen is a painter, printmaker and illustrator. As a printmaker he creates narrative pieces that address the imperfections of humanity and individuals with empathy and a sense of humour. He works primarily with linocuts, using traditional and experimental ways of mark making, including drilling, scratching, laser engraving and etching, as well as applying blind deboss, collage and text. Rob lives and works in Douro, Ontario, Canada.
twitter: @RobNiezenArtist
instagram: @robniezen
Heads & Tales
Heads & Tales is a series of linocuts with blind deboss, postage stamps and hand writing on paper. National postage stamps have traditionally featured portraits of countries’ heads of state, royalty and heroes. The ‘Heads’ and what they may represent tell their ‘Tales’ as humans: illogical, emotional, chaotic, honest, pompous and petty. Just like us, bound and constrained by strings that pull in undesired directions.
Cross Cut
The Cross Cut linocuts illustrate traditional songs collected by CBC’s Edith Fowke in rural Ontario during the 1960s—many in Peterborough County—put into contemporary context. The underlying themes of these songs are of a timeless nature, dealing with human existence: love, deception, politics, war, immigration, work, leisure, and death. Superficially things have changed, but the human conditions now are not that different from 150 years ago.
Ameliya Disappears children's book
In 2020 I had the pleasure of illustrating ‘Ameliya Disappears’ by Jamaican author Angela Punky Stultz. The author combined childhood memories and her deep understanding of community culture to create a story of a little Caribbean girl who stumbles upon her grandmother’s age old family secret. Available at Watson&Lou, Happenstance Books & Yarns, and Amazon.
