STATEMENT
At an early age I grew fond of The Picasso sculpture off of Washington St. downtown Chicago and it was my first impression of what art was supposed to be. This is the reason why I have much respect for Pablo Picasso and admire his contributions towards our visual world. As a child, I used to see a cow when I examined that abstract sculpture, and now I don't see a cow I see a bust of a woman, two people kissing, a guitar, a keyhole and a couple other things. But, that bust was my first iconic art figure and my first thoughts on what art was, but as I grew a little older it came clear that The Mona Lisa is the "true" global iconic art figure.
But, it was my love of drawing that my focus on art began at an early age. I drew my first picture at age three and it was a simple sketch of a lady on a horse. Since then I've been depicting reality with an abstract approach and it's in my attempt to capture the present thickness of the air that my present work tends to have a graffitiesque finish.
I also paint fresh abstract landscapes that become backgrounds for layers of abstracted words and iconic figures. I like to coordinate the composition of letters to words and iconic figures to be cohesive with the negative space, so that it stands visually balanced with the background. Apart from the iconic figures, I also layer letters to complete words in an abstract layering approach. I often, in a spontaneous manner, use letters to break up space within the edges of a surface. As they are stacked, on top of each other, they become dismantled and leave visual traces behind that are organic, feminine and geometric all in one.
"Ride 2" 2006
The more I paint the more I realize that what's most important is the here and now, the present thickness of the air. The air is always changing and capturing it's thickness creates a certain sense of spirituality within my work. We lead spiritually driven lives in an abstract manner and developing my work to capture our everchanging abstract nature highlights our spiritual strength.
Basically, I like to create work with the feel of a speeding car.
-Rich