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Rickard Studio
Artist Profile
Robert Rickard's contemporary home in the mountains above Taos, New Mexico can
be characterized by infinite peace and silence. Except, of course, when he is in
his spacious studio next door; then the sounds of tools working steel and
aluminum reverberate across the valley.
Rickard's work is incredibly vivid and yet very natural. The colors are
reminiscent of the sunsets over the Rio Grande Gorge, which he sees from his
studio. It is in that bright, airy studio that Rickard creates memorable pieces
which harness the myriad properties of metals: their rigidity, their pliability,
and their essential chemical make-up.
His is a scientific approach. After using a hand-held plasma cutter to carve his
designs into the base metal, each sculpture is then coated with other metals;
typically copper, bronze, and iron. Each of these metals reacts differently to
the chemical patinas and dye oxides with which the pieces are finished, creating
a rich palette of hues.
He works meticulously, always learning and educating himself about new materials
and finishes. His new collection of sculpture, forged in stainless steel, and
designed for indoor or outdoor use, is being embraced by master planners,
architects, and developers as well as collectors.
Rickard has worked with his hands ever since he was a child growing up on the
slopes of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains and in San Francisco Bay area in
the 50's and 60's. A great part of his present day success is his architectural
sensibility of negative space, proportion and balance, mixed with a deep
understanding of quality craftsmanship learned working in the Theatre during and
after college, creating everything from a cherry tree that nightly shed its
leaves to an intricate Victorian drawing room or an entire Shakespearean forest
replete with twinkling lights.
A young Rickard became enamored with the way his set designs transported the
viewer to another dimension. This experience is what gives him such insight when
preparing collaborative commissioned installations and makes his work unique.
Rickard is an honored Niche Awards Finalist and is a juried participant in
several exclusive shows. "I have been deeply humbled and grateful for the way
that I have been welcomed into galleries and collectors homes," says Rickard.
He is re-launching the studio in 2009 as Rickard Studio to reflect the broad
scope of sculpture he intends to create in the coming years. He will keep the
name Kronos Works for the ever-popular line of branded clocks the studio
produces. Robert Rickard's work is curated in many galleries across the country
and he receives numerous private commissions every year.