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Robert Oxnam

born 1942 Los Angeles USA

died 2024 New York USA

Robert Oxnam (1942–2024) was a prominent American China scholar who led the Asia Society (1981–1992) as president. He transformed the group into a major institution for U.S.-Asia relations, drawing on a deep knowledge of Chinese art, culture, and history. During beach walks near his Southold home, Oxnam was captivated by wave-worn tree branches—roots that might have washed up from anywhere in the world. He recognized in them the kind of energy and nature-sculpted history that Chinese artists have sought in scholars’ rocks for well over 1,000 years.

From Flung-Ink, to macro photography, to acrylics on Chinese calligraphic paper, Oxnam’s work was a contemporary take on an ancient form. At the heart of his creations, we find an active interplay of Chinese philosophy and aesthetics with natural forms and found objects.

Oxnam was preoccupied with the rapport between the parts and the whole, constantly in search of the form’s “qi,” or inner spirit. His interest was rooted in a lifelong struggle with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), which was caused by early childhood abuse. He coined the phrase “Cohesive Multiplicity” to describe the desired relationship between the dimensions of our varied selves, and art-making was of singular importance to his healing in the last twenty years of his life.

Robert’s work has been widely exhibited and collected in the New York area. Exhibitions include group displays at Chambers Fine Arts (2009) and Brecknock Hall (2010), as well as solo shows at Rockefeller Brothers Fund Gallery (2009), Inter-Church Center (2010), New York Public Library (2014), William Ris Gallery (2018), and Peconic Landing (2023). His sculptures are also featured in well-known private collections in New York and California.

Robert has authored major books on China and U.S.-China Relations, as well as two novels concerning Chinese history. He also published the widely recognized memoir, A Fractured Mind: My Life with Multiple Personality Disorder (2005), which chronicles his struggles with Dissociative Identity Disorder. He passed away on April 18, 2024.