iRobot, a red abstract acrylic painting by Ritu Raj (acrylic on woodcut, 4 × 4 ft)

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Abstract Inquiry · 2025

iRobot

A Pop Abstraction of Machine and Myth

4 × 4 ft · Acrylic on woodcut · 2025

Available · in the studio, Phoenix

Visit the studio

The robot made personal — pop abstraction asking what machine and myth share when you strip away the function.

iRobot stands bold and unapologetic—a 48” x 48” woodcut transformed into a pop abstraction of technology, curiosity, and human imagination. This piece draws inspiration from the simple geometries of early sci-fi design and the visual language of machines, reimagined through saturated color and playful symmetry. The twin circles feel like eyes, sensors, or symbols—at once familiar and ambiguous, inviting the viewer into an intimate encounter with something artificial yet alive.

The process behind iRobot was equal parts precision and improvisation. I carved the shape using CNC technology to create perfect symmetry, then layered it with acrylics in vivid reds, soft pinks, and metallic silvers. Each color was chosen to vibrate against the others, creating a sense of both warmth and distance—echoing how we relate to machines: fascinated, cautious, intrigued. The final coat of epoxy sealed the surface in a glossy, almost plastic-like finish, adding a slick, tactile dimension that reinforces its futuristic aura.

What I love about iRobot is its balance between clarity and mystery. It’s geometric, clean, minimal—but it’s also a face, a mask, a symbol of something we can’t quite name. It asks: Is this a machine looking at us, or are we projecting ourselves onto it? Is it playful or ominous? The painting offers no answers, just presence. It’s a meditation on how we see technology—not as cold or distant, but as a mirror reflecting our own desires, fears, and fantasies. For me, iRobot is less about the machine itself, and more about the emotional space it occupies: bold, enigmatic, watching—and waiting.

Where to see it. In person at RituStudio, Phoenix, by appointment. Represented by Jarrow & Goodman, Los Angeles.

The space it needs

Wall
At least 5 ft wide
Ceiling
8 ft or more
Light
Natural light preferred — the resin catches it and the color shifts through the day
Daylight
Scarlet and magenta warm under western afternoon sun, so an east or north wall keeps the robot cooler. The carved woodcut surface has real relief, and light from the side brings its edges up.

Lives best in

Living room 5/5

iRobot rewards the room where people slow down. It changes on the second and thi

Hotel lobby 4/5

Strong enough to hold an arrival space, intimate enough to reward a longer look.

Details

Size
4 × 4 ft (W × H)
Medium
Acrylic on woodcut
Finish
Epoxy over acrylic. The resin lifts the color off the canvas and holds it forward, so the surface deepens as the light moves across the room.
Year
2025
Collection
Abstract Inquiry
Palette
Scarlet · Bitumen · Lilac Gray · Magenta Undertone
Weight
About 22 lb
Ready
In the studio; delivery 8–12 weeks

Its reading

Read on the six dimensions of ArtGraph.

  • Texture4
  • Form4
  • Colour range3
  • Palette4.6
  • Contrast2.9
  • Abstraction Quotient1
Read the full reading on ArtGraph →

Keywords

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