Robert created a trilogy of three watercolour paintings on the theme of exile, including Escape from the Promised Land and The Promised Land. All three paintings feature cars and figures in urban landscapes at night. The earlier paintings make reference to the Bruce Springsteen song, “The Promised Land.” Youthful rebellion, cars, and rock ‘n roll inspire dreams of escaping a predictable, soul-deadening, middle-class life. There is a strong element of irony to these images and the suggestion that this escape may be an illusion. In the last of the trilogy, Escape, two figures approach a car, entering an eerie pool of light in an otherwise desolate space. It could be an empty parking lot with one exceedingly tall streetlight. A  tiny sketchbook drawing with a similar composition shows a naked man and woman approaching a car with the caption “Expulsion from Eden.”

The streetlight may take the place of the Biblical tree of knowledge and the car is the means out of paradise (no escorting angels necessary). However, the image can also be read in a more positive way as an allegory of coming-of-age. The car is touched by the light, revealed and charged with significance, the last car on earth, allowing this couple the necessary step to adulthood, severing ties with their past and striking out into an adventure into the unknown.