Jeff Robb - Conjectures and Refutations

Conjectures and Refutations takes its title from Karl Popper’s theory of knowledge: the idea that truth is never final, but always provisional — tested, challenged, and open to revision. In this spirit, Jeff Robb presents two significant bodies of work from his recent practice: Human Collage and Conjectures and Refutations, both centred on the instability of perception.

 

In Human Collage, fragmented figures emerge through layered cut-outs that merge abstraction and realism. The segmented bodies suggest introspection and vulnerability, evoking an identity constructed through layers, memories, and shifting self-perceptions. The monochromatic palette heightens contrast and emotional intensity, encouraging viewers to look beyond the surface.

 

With Conjectures and Refutations, Robb shifts towards a more perceptual and spatial investigation. Concentric chromatic fields radiate outward with meditative precision, while at their centre a lenticular image transforms as the viewer moves. The work resists a fixed reading: it shifts, fractures, and withholds itself. Visual “truth” becomes contingent on position, time, and motion.