Fiona Roberts

Fiona Roberts’ artistic practice interrogates the precarious boundary between safety and danger, focusing on the nuanced interplay between physical environments and psychological constructs. Her work deconstructs traditionally perceived ‘safe’ spaces such as the home, which symbolises physical security, and belief systems that offer psychological solace and recasting them as sites of latent tension and disquiet. Through immersive installations, Roberts destabilises familiar environments, compelling viewers to re-examine their assumptions about comfort and security.

Roberts’ practice engages with themes of phenomenology and spatial theory, utilising materiality as a conduit for exploring the body’s relationship to space. By manipulating domestic and familiar objects and aesthetics, she reveals how these symbols of protection can also evoke vulnerability and unease. The juxtaposition of intimacy and intrusion in her work challenges the viewer’s perception of interior spaces, exposing the fragile underpinnings of what we consider ‘safe’ environments.

Her meticulous attention to material processes, such as casting with resin, ceramics, upholstery, custom designed embroidery and wallpaper, adds another layer of complexity to the work. These materials evoke a tactile unease, where familiar textures and forms are distorted or subverted to destabilise the viewer’s sense of place. Roberts unpacks the psychological landscapes of safety, critiquing how belief systems and domestic rituals often conceal deeper anxieties about control, surveillance, and vulnerability. By confronting the intersection of physical and psychological safety, Roberts’ work engages with broader discourses on the human condition, revealing the fragility and complexity of the spaces we inhabit and the belief systems we cling to for solace.