Richelle's Archive

In this decade of incessant action and boom of technological wonders glorifying progression, movement, and speed, this society renders it difficult to find stillness and time for reflection and observation. Rarely is there opportunity to study a stranger’s countenance and physical features or explore the beauty of everyday objects in commonplace settings. Everyone is constantly in motion, and to see takes time. While pushing forward is essential for retaining balance like a bicycle, in possession is the freedom of relishing the ride and indulging in the beauty of everything crossing the path, which I challenge my viewers to undertake. Focusing on portraiture and still-life, when my hands and brush dance and press a thick-layer of oil-based paint onto canvas, I capture the spirit and soul of my muses on the flat fabric. Drawn by my art, viewers wield this invaluable, rare occasion of pausing and observing to study my subjects’ variety of defining features, expressions, and postures. I bring to light the beauty and diversity of people and objects we are constantly surrounded by and can observe. Additionally, as American realist oil painter Edward Hopper declares, “if I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.” Through my artwork, I implant knots of emotions and curiosity in lieu of words into beholders, so that they can untangle it into strings of thought and interpretation, original and disparate.