Interior Ponderings – artworks by Roxanne Richards
The Clear Lake Arts Center continues to find ways to help the community view and be inspired by our exhibition calendar. We are excited to present Roxanne Richards’ – Interior Ponderings. This exhibition navigates the human experience through a masterful approach of color and form.
Here is what Roxanne says about her themes, thinking, and process:
I am enamored by the human form because there is a commonality in our human body. We have a commonality in our physical experiences and emotional responses to those experiences. In today’s splintered society, it is hard to see the commonality of the human experience. I choose to focus on the experiences we share versus that which divides us. The stories in my work document my journey to understand what I see, feel, and experience. The images I depict are allegories to explore our common experiences. Being able to connect in this gentle way makes our journey through life less lonely.
Color and energy play a significant part in the work I do. I want people to unabashedly and unapologetically fall in love with color again. We have been taught to be sensible about color. What color goes with what color. What each color means. What colors are serious and what colors are frivolous. What a shame. My hope is that my work reveals the life and intrinsic beauty of each color.
A little over ten years ago, I started experimenting with isopropyl alcohol and soft pastels as a way to both draw and paint on the same piece of work. I spent many playful years drawing and painting my inner world. Recently I began to yearn for the dark, lush colors of oil paint. I started out by applying gesso to paper and using oil paint medium with my dry pastels instead of isopropyl alcohol. I was able to get the deep, rich colors I craved. I stretched a canvas and started painting with my oil paints. In a moment of clarity, I grabbed oil sticks and started drawing on my canvas. It was at that moment I discovered my direction. Drawing and painting had become so intertwined, I could not separate them. All these years, I was painting on my drawings but now I was going to focus on drawing on my paintings. I would continue the journey to blur the line between painting and drawing.
Interior Ponderings –Virtual Exhibition. For video click HERE.
For a full pdf with images, titles, and prices click on Interior Ponderings
A video chat with Roxanne on creativity, For video click HERE.
Artist Bio:
When Roxanne Richards was four years old, her grandmother gave her a box of 64 crayons. Since then, Roxanne has been coloring her world. She relies on the color and energy of her marks to explore the emotional impact of life’s journey. Her figures are in the moment trying to grasp the importance and meaning of that moment. She blurs the line between the disciplines of painting and drawing.
Roxanne received her BFA with an emphasis in painting and drawing from St. Cloud State University. Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include the Hopkins Arts Center, the Phipps Center for the Arts, the Northfield Arts Guild, MacRostie Art Center, Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts, and Riverland Community College. Roxanne has a studio in the Northrup King building in Minneapolis and her work can be found in private and corporate collections in the United States.
Roxanne Richards Website