Artist Profile - Sarah Richards

I am constantly intrigued by the paradoxes I come across when I am studying human faces. At times the face can be extremely revealing bearing marks of emotion, personality and ethnic origin but yet can be so closed and misleading. A face can be worn as a mask or as a window. In my examination of someone's face I tend to break down the structure into basic elements of shape and form, and then I reconstruct it following these contours that I have discovered to unveil new ways of looking at that person. I use contrasting elements within the pictorial space to create a multitude of possibilities.

The process I employ can be quite destructive as I heavily work on an image, building up structure and form, pushing it to the limits, until it becomes too restrictive. I then disintegrate areas by sanding or scraping to loosen the image back up again. As I start to lose too much form and perceive the ghost of the image, I start reconstructing and tightening up. I go through this process of renewal and destruction several times during a painting.

Some of my paintings have an initial ambiguity, insomuch as they are originally perceived as abstract forms. This challenges the viewer's perceptions as on closer inspection they suddenly discover the face leaping out at them.

Experimenting with different mediums is an important part of my practise. I utilise traditional painting techniques and materials such as encaustic, pure pigment and egg tempera. Learning traditional application and materials helps me to understand how paint works more completely. I also incorporate modern mediums such as contemporary drying agents and household glosses and emulsions into my paintings. This contrast produces a variety of interesting effects that is fundamental to my visual language.

I usually work on three or four paintings at once and find a particular satisfaction in creating diptychs and triptychs. Not only does this promote a deeper feeling of intimacy between the subject and the viewer but also suggests a feeling of movement, a feeling of passing through time and space.