Katy Richards shares her latest series of still-life and figurative works investigating themes of desire, beauty, concealment, death and temporality in “Pocket Full of Posies,” an exhibition that opens at the Hedge Gallery (1300 W. 78th St. inside the 78th Street Studios) this Friday from 5 to 8 p.m.
A preview reception will be held Wednesday, March 15, from 5 to 7 p.m.
“Ring Around the Rosie,” of course, is a children’s song, and the rhyme is thought to refer to the bubonic plague although this theory of etymology has been questioned by many folklorists and historical linguists who believe the song to simply be about gathering flowers. Either way the song is recognizable to anyone.
“Pocket Full of Posies” offers paintings and works on paper from the last four years. The work is influenced by surrealism, floral textiles, Rocco ornamentation, and 17th century vanitas painting, as well as other historical artworks and objects according to Richards.
“Floral imagery appears throughout the paintings in the show,” said Richards. “I use the flower motif as a symbol of the fleeting nature of life. The flower’s bloom is brief; it’s beauty momentary.”
Richards is one of Hedge’s expanding portfolio of nearly 20 contemporary artists. Her last solo exhibition there was called, ‘See Myself Something Different’ in 2020.
“I let the work organically evolve throughout the years and I feel very lucky that I work with a gallery that allows me freedom in exploring my practice,” said Richards. “My subject matter changes but I’ve always been interested in the materiality of paint and the relationship between abstraction and representation.”
Her work is lush with expressive bursts of color, at times focusing intently on the body, exploiting its fleshy lusciousness. There are intimate narratives captured in her still-lifes and figures. Her impressionistic brush strokes are dashed on with exuberance and are executed with the fluidity of mastery.
At times, Richards abstracts her subjects by zooming in on certain details capturing a limited perspective. One can get lost in the symphony of her strokes and dashes, losing track of the subject matter while zigging and zagging along highways and byways of her linework and blending of piment.
In the piece “Skelton Rose,” multiple visual planes intertwine. A skeleton somberly sits posed behind a wall of flowers which seem to be layered in fluxing colors, as if partially viewed through different colored lenses with an orange rose in full bloom confronting the viewer alongside the skull juxtaposing vitality with mortality.
The piece is wild with energy, purposely disjointed, enthralling and evocative. It is sure to rouse conversation and even debate on its meaning and significance.
“The painting originally started in October 2021. In the corner of my bathroom, I set up a skeleton model, a vase of daisies, shot glass filled with water and flowers, and a candle,” said Richards. “I lit the arrangement using magenta lighting and worked from a photograph. After about a month working on it, I was terribly bored with the painting and decided to start messing with the space by masking off areas in tape and painting over. When layering over a painting I work associatively as to what image to put on top drawing connections formally and conceptually.
“This painting went through many different stages until I finally finished it in January this year. I use juxtaposition, and pattern to push spatial relationships throughout the show, but I was particularly happy with how this painting played with space between flatness and illusionistic depth, and how the process of layering and removing reads like peeled wallpaper.”
Richards continues to expand her breath of work experimenting with form, depth, subject matter and perspective towards a crystallization of her style and voice as a visual artist. There is beauty and well-observed technique in her art while also displaying her distinct and sometimes shadowy perspective.
“I hope people enjoy investigating the different surfaces and patterns in the show and drawing historical and contemporary connections to the different symbolism,” said Richards. “Even though much of the symbolism is about death I think it’s beneficial to think about our own mortality because it puts into perspective what is important to us.”
Richards is a 2011 Cleveland Institute of Art graduate and received her MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2014. She teaches painting and drawing at Kent State University and received a BFA from The Cleveland Institute of Art and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art.
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This article appears in Mar 8-21, 2023.