Inspired by Fauvist and Outsider art movements as well as masters like Jacob Lawrence, Milton Avery, Joan Miró, and Clementine Hunter, Bobb-Willis applies a ‘painterly’ touch to her photography. She documents people in compromising and disjointed positions to challenge how the body is seen, using form and abstraction to create new possibilities for what a portrait can be.

Toting the line between fashion and contemporary art, her use of bright vivid colors is therapeutic and speaks to a desire to claim power and joy in moments of sadness, confusion or confinement. Her work is also driven by a commitment to keeping the inner child alive, returning to a truer, more curious self and protecting the sense of wonder that adulthood often asks us to abandon.

Arielle’s photographs are all captured in urban and rural cities, from the South to North, East to West. Bobb-Willis travels throughout the US and abroad as a way of finding ‘home’ in any grassy knoll, or city sidewalk, reminding us to stay connected and grounded during life’s transitional moments.