Rotin, Lynn

Lynn Rotin was born in Toronto and moved to Nova Scotia almost thirty years ago. She began to paint as a student at NSCAD University and hasn’t looked back.

Her formal education includes a BA from York University, a Graphic Design Diploma from George Brown College and a BFA from NSCAD University.

Lynn has received grants from both the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture, and the Canada Council. Several paintings from the series Empty Bowls, Sacred Vessels are in the collection of the Nova Scotia Art Bank; charcoal drawings from Holocaust and Memory toured to France.

Artist Statement

Art has been a constant throughout my life: photography, film-making, television, graphic design, drawing and painting have each taken their turn as an outlet for creative expression.

I began as a loose, expressionistic, representational painter, gradually evolving into an abstract one. Over the years, I've developed a personal, visual language of symbols and mark-making.

I've always been an instinctive, intuitive painter coming at the surface straight from the gut, and abstraction suits these inclinations: the quick gestures and strokes; the back-and-forth dialogue; the immediacy. I love watching an abstract painting develop. Every mark elicits another in a conversation that can continue for a while.

Favored materials include oil paint, encaustic (beeswax and pigment) and inks. Weekly figure drawing sessions, where I focus on an expressive and loose gestural line, hone my skills and remain fundamental to my practice.