"Culled from segments of the Miss USA pageants of the late 1980’s, Robinson’s two-channel video reduces and refracts the source’s highly-gendered pageantry to its rawest form of ceremonial spectacle. Clad in bathing suits, state sashes, and big hair, the contestants are individually posed and captured within highly-staged landscapes of the American southwest. Removing all commentary and numerical scores, each video becomes a propulsive wave of relentless camera zooms, gleaming sands, and repeated gestures of surprise and seduction. These seemingly vacant expressions build a silent plea for rescue from the psychic deserts of Americana and misogyny."
- Carrie Secrist Gallery, November 2015