OPENING: Ross Richmond’s figurative studies at Seattle’s Friesen Gallery

Ross Richmond, Stoic, 2011. Glass, limestone. H 12, W 6, D 5 in.

Ross Richmond, an alumnus of the disbanded William Morris team, will exhibit his solo work in the exhibition “Meditations on the Figure,” opening at Seattle’s Friesen Gallery on October 6th. As an integral part of the Morris operation from 1997 until 2007, Richmond helped to achieve some of the alchemical transformations of glass to resemble wood, rope, and ceramic. His new work shares that decidedly non-glass appearance, looking more like painted carved wood, and the final results showcase astounding technical skill as he explores human figure and gesture.

Ross Richmond, Visionary, 2011. Glass. H 36, W 9, D 9 in.

While Richmond’s figures have highly detailed heads with expressively sculpted facial features, their bodies are vague forms that suggested the body draped by fabric. The realization that these forms were hot-sculpted and not mold-blown, or cast into a carefully prepared mold, is to appreciate the skills that went them. A frequent instructor at Pilchuck, Richmond has also taught at the University of Miami, Penland School of Craft, Kent State University, Cleveland Institute of Art, California College of the Arts and the Museum of Glass.

Ross Richmond, Dichotomy, 2011. Glass, stone. H 17, W 9, D 8 in.

Stronger than the solitary figures are the groupings of people in works such as Dichotomy (2011) where the relationship between the two yields complex negative spaces and introduces additional compositional complexity.

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