About Robert Scholten
Robert Scholten is a Melbourne-based visual artist whose work captures the pulse of contemporary city life through movement, light, and memory. Known for his dynamic ink and watercolor paintings, he explores the tension between control and chaos — a conversation between precision and chance that reflects the rhythm of urban existence.
Artistic Practice
Robert’s process begins intuitively — layers of ink, pigment, and gesture form before clear images appear. He describes this as Emergism — an approach where each work emerges through response and rhythm rather than strict planning.
His works often start in the streets: sketching or painting en plein air to capture a fleeting atmosphere. Back in the studio, these fragments evolve into more abstract compositions, combining mark-making, layering, and light to build a sense of place and emotion.
While ink and watercolor remain central to his practice, Robert is expanding into acrylic and oil painting, bringing his gestural language to new surfaces and scales. This transition reflects a growing interest in texture, material depth, and the emotional resonance of color.
Influence & Intent
Drawing inspiration from both classical and contemporary sources — from Leonardo da Vinci and Rubens to James Jean, Kent Williams, and Turner — Robert’s art seeks to bridge eras: uniting the timeless observation of human experience with the immediacy of modern life.
His paintings explore the spaces between architecture and atmosphere, realism and abstraction — always searching for that point where feeling becomes form.
Background
Born and raised in Melbourne, Robert studied visual art and design and has exhibited across Australia and internationally. His works are held in private and corporate collections, including major commissions for The Ritz-Carlton Melbourne and Defence Bank’s 50th Anniversary Project.
In addition to his studio practice, Robert teaches visual art and design at Swinburne University, encouraging emerging artists to develop their creative voice through experimentation and process-driven practice.
Robert has exhibited across Australia and internationally, with works held in private and commercial collections. Alongside his studio practice, he teaches visual art and design, encouraging others to explore creativity through process and experimentation.
He currently lives and works in Melbourne, where the city’s light, architecture, and rhythm continue to shape his artistic vision.
Artist Statement
Robert Scholten is an Australian visual artist whose work explores the rhythm, memory, and sensory complexity of urban life. Working primarily in ink and watercolor, and increasingly in acrylic and oil, he translates the fleeting energy of cities into layered compositions that hover between realism and abstraction.
Robert’s process begins without a fixed image or predetermined outcome. Instead, each painting develops intuitively through mark-making, gesture, and response. He describes this approach as Emergism — a philosophy of painting that values emergence over control, where form and meaning reveal themselves through the act of creation.
Whether working on location or in the studio, he treats the surface as a field of discovery. Ink flows like breath; watercolor drifts and bleeds; acrylic and oil invite new density and texture. The result is a visual language that feels alive — fluid, evolving, and deeply connected to the moment of its making.
C.V.
Selected Exhibitions
2023 Kingston Layers / G3 Art Space
2022 Melbourne Scenes / The Ritz-Carlton
2021 Rick Amor Drawing Prize / McCleland Gallery
2019 Fertile Ground / Kingston Arts
2019 Imagine Nation / G3 Arts Space
2018 A Connection of Stories / Birmingham PS and Creative Victoria
2018 St Kilda Festival / City of Port Phillip
2017 The River of Voices / Warranwood PS and Creative Victoria
2016 Swinburne University
2015 Ock Pop Tok Learning Centre / Laos
2014 Process / Kingston Arts
2012 Art Jam / BFC Square Manila
2011 Collective Momentum / 106 Gallery
2011 Community Spirit / Toyota Emerging Artists
2010 Drawn / Brunswick Street Gallery
2007 KPMG Global Conference / Ho Chi Minh
2009 RMIT Masters / Guildford Lane Gallery
2008 Traces of Being / RMIT Project Space
2009 Animal Tales / 106 Gallery
2008 National Maritime Art Prize / Maritime Museum
Education
2009 Masters of Fine Art (Painting) / RMIT University
2006 Bachelor of Communication Design / Swinburne University
Awards
2021 Rick Amor Drawing Prize (shortlisted)
2018 St Kilda Festival (winner)
2008 Maritime Art Awards (shortlisted)
Publications and Artist Talks
2022Twenty Artists / City of Port Phillip
2021Sometimes / City of Melbourne
2018St Kilda News
2017Drawn from Life / Hardie Grant
2015Creativity in the Everyday / Phnom Penh University
2015Zupi Magazine #46 / São Paulo
2014Unleashed Wakeboard Magazine
2014The Art of Urban Sketching / Shenyang
2012Sketches and Doodles / b*creative Mag #9
2009Jikininki / RMSED Magazine