Bonfire of the Vanitas Painting

Born in 1964 at Fordingbridge in Hampshire, Richard graduated from York University 1986. In 1988 he moved to Glasgow, Scotland, becoming part of its blossoming figurative art scene.Between 1996 and 2004 Since January 2005 works from this series have been regularly shown at galleries in Glasgow, Dublin, and London. In 2010 he moved to Chichester in West Sussex. "For me, painting has always been magical, a doorway to the imagination. Sometimes in my youth I found paint too hot to handle. But, inspired by the old masters, I learnt to focus and direct its emotional power, designing, composing and re-working to orchestrate light and colour into a dramatic and unified imaginative vision. Dialoguing with the art of the past gives my work a broader context, the sense of participating in an ongoing, collective artistic enterprise. But the traditional imagery takes on personal meaning as the encapsulation of my own dreams, re-framed and re-imagined. Painting has helped me in my battles with M.E., taking me to another place, where deep emotions take on symbolic form, where their meaning can be explored and re-interpreted. Architectural space becomes an arena where personal dreams interact with our shared cultural dreams. As contemporary figures confront the world of the past, artworks can symbolise their memories, feelings, and ideas. Sculptures come to life as characters in their dreams; picture frames open portals into different worlds. My open-ended pictorial narratives can take on personal meaning for those who see them – like doorways to the imagination, where they can find humour, drama, insight – or consolation."