iRobot: A Pop Abstraction of Machine and Myth

Medium: Mixed Medium on Wood
Size: 4ft x 4ft
Creation Date: 2025
Collection: Pop Art

iRobot stands bold and unapologetic—a 48” x 48” woodcut transformed into a pop abstraction of technology, curiosity, and human imagination. This piece draws inspiration from the simple geometries of early sci-fi design and the visual language of machines, reimagined through saturated color and playful symmetry. The twin circles feel like eyes, sensors, or symbols—at once familiar and ambiguous, inviting the viewer into an intimate encounter with something artificial yet alive.

The process behind iRobot was equal parts precision and improvisation. I carved the shape using CNC technology to create perfect symmetry, then layered it with acrylics in vivid reds, soft pinks, and metallic silvers. Each color was chosen to vibrate against the others, creating a sense of both warmth and distance—echoing how we relate to machines: fascinated, cautious, intrigued. The final coat of epoxy sealed the surface in a glossy, almost plastic-like finish, adding a slick, tactile dimension that reinforces its futuristic aura.

What I love about iRobot is its balance between clarity and mystery. It’s geometric, clean, minimal—but it’s also a face, a mask, a symbol of something we can’t quite name. It asks: Is this a machine looking at us, or are we projecting ourselves onto it? Is it playful or ominous? The painting offers no answers, just presence. It’s a meditation on how we see technology—not as cold or distant, but as a mirror reflecting our own desires, fears, and fantasies. For me, iRobot is less about the machine itself, and more about the emotional space it occupies: bold, enigmatic, watching—and waiting.