Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

Robert Hitzig

Robert Hitzig is recreating the identity of wood. A hobbyist furniture maker turned artist, the Vermonter reimagines the material of a typical kitchen table with his unique painting-sculpture hybrids. “I like to challenge and be challenged,” Hitzig explains in an artist statement. “Wood is commonly seen as a functional medium, used for making something ‘purposeful,’ providing a surface to cut vegetables, hold a computer, a dinner plate, a roof over your head.” Hitzig uses tinted shellac to create pieces that deliver the perfect interplay of texture and color, transforming the functional into the thought provoking. Hitzig’s work will be at the SEABA Center in Burlington February 1 through 27. Pictured: “Trapezoid Flag.”