Richard is an MFA candidate at Louisiana State University and sustainability professional living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He has worked in the United States, Vietnam, India, and the Netherlands, focusing on various areas of sustainability and strives to bring those same principles to his ceramic work and teaching philosophy. When not making ceramics or working in sustainability, he can often be found cooking, learning to swing dance, or strolling up a mountain.
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THE WORK
My work is an attempt to unify the pieces of myself, which feel anathema to each other. I have pushed myself, studied, and been acculturated as a scientist and engineer to think linearly, to be steady, and to only show a specific range of who I am to the world if at all. But the energy of life, the wonder I see cannot be distilled down to a series of required steps or achievements. Creating ceramics is a dynamic process. Clay stretches, folds, tears, and can be endlessly reshaped. It is that energy I aim to express in my work. I strive to pull evocative movement out of my work, playing with gesture and form to make my pots appear to flex, sag, and posture, implying life and movement in a static form. I want to capture the dance of creation, the life, and the expressive freedom of this medium. And, through this struggle, to connect with myself, building what I dream to be from where I am. EDUCATION
Louisiana State University - MFA Candidate Delft University of Technology - MS, IR Sustainable Energy Technology University of Michigan - BS in Biochemistry Arapahoe Community College - Continuing Education: Ceramics Community College of Denver - Continuing Education: Art Foundations Teaching
Ceramics Instructor, Bicentennial Art Center - Aurora, CO Teaching Assistant, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, MI Volunteer Teacher, Pioneer High School - Ann Arbor, MI Studio Assistant, Yourist Studio - Ann Arbor, MI |