ESTRANGED - ROBIN

Navigating the thicket of social expectation

In this pivotal work from the ESTRANGED series, ARJAN SPANNENBURG addresses the profound isolation and eventual liberation found in non-binary identity. Through the portrait of ROBIN, the artist visualises the complex journey of shedding prescribed roles—neither "girl" nor "boy"—to find an authentic middle ground. SPANNENBURG uses the dense, overlapping leaves of the currant bush to symbolise the social "thicket" that one must navigate. The image captures the tension between the subject's internal clarity and a world that often treats difference as a spectacle or a confusion. It is a masterful study of a person carving out a space for themselves where no pre-existing path was offered.

The resilience against the public gaze

SPANNENBURG’s motivation for this piece is to document the courage it takes to remain soft and open in a society that often turns its back. By placing ROBIN in a sea of foliage, the artist creates a protective cocoon that contrasts with the harsh reality of being "put on display" or ignored. As ROBIN reflects on the painful moments of public scrutiny and the invalidation of their identity: I felt completely not taken seriously and that same evening I was also purposely ignored by a large group of people. This work challenges the viewer to move beyond the "opinion" of gender and recognise the biological and psychological reality of the subject. For the institutional collector, this piece represents a vital contemporary narrative on the evolution of human identity and the right to self-definition.