My art practice has grown out of a need to manage bouts of insomnia over many years, drawing to distract myself from the realities of sleeplessness. I explore geometry, shapes and forms, inspired by my fascination with industrial ruins. In their decayed condition, these ruins often seem like giant figures in a forgotten landscape. I am drawn to their liminal status, opening the door to imagining them as something beyond their present selves.
I explore shapes and geometries that conflate formal, spatial and figural qualities, tapping into the perceptions and memories of the viewer. Pieces are drawn in layers, subtracting and adding lines to clarify interesting qualities that begin to emerge, often reworking them over long periods of time.
The assemblies I make are focused on their density and the play of light and shadow they might offer. They are crafted to provide a shifting degree of solidity and openness as one moves around them, shifting between a kind of stoic presence and near absence.
Working with tools from my architectural training, I develop drawings in graphite, ink and paint as well as in digital form. The three-dimensional assemblies are built from flat and folded plates of thin basswood and cardboard or cut from large wood blocks and joined together to form larger constructions.
I see this work as extending the collection of shapes/spaces that we unconsciously interpret, to make sense of our physical world, every day. I seek to create these moments of translation in the experience of the work, shaping structures that remain open to that interpretive condition.
Artist Biography
Based in Philadelphia, Richard works as an artist, architect and educator. His art practice is focused on abstract drawing, painting and sculpture, exploring shape, geometry and light. Educated as an architect, he holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Temple University and a Master of Architecture from University of Pennsylvania. Richard is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts & Design.
Education
1995 University of Pennsylvania, School of Design, Philadelphia, PA Master of Architecture
1992 Architecture Program, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA Rome, Italy Bachelor of Architecture
Professional Experience
2019 - Present Drexel University, Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, Philadelphia, PA Adjunct Assistant Professor
2013 - 2019 University City Arts League, Philadelphia, PA Board Member
