Artists Statement

Richard lives in the seaside village of Thirroul in the Illawarra region of NSW, Australia.

His art reflects his appreciation of the local environment – both natural and built. While his art may be seen in many media including video, photography and digital prints he has a passion for the simplicity and purity of the basics.

His ‘Steelworks’ series of drawings uses pencil on watercolour paper to indicate the predomination of greys in the industrial landscape. The torn edges of the works is a reference to the low-tech industrial process of paper production that results in decaled edges. The series is based on a series of photographs he took one afternoon. He was on his way home from the cinema at Shellharbour when his eye was caught by the plumes of white steam emanating from the coke quenching area of the ‘works.

The conundrum of beauty in ugliness is a concept that many artists have worked with over the years and the steelworks is no stranger to this avenue of artistic interpretation.

But there are other contrasts. The industry is dirty and it pollutes, yet without it this town and the livelihoods of many would not exist. The contrasts are reflected in Richard’s work through many devices such as the hard, sharp edges of the structures and the soft, organic edges of the escaping steam and smoke.

Richard also works in acrylic paint, gouache, watercolour, collage, chalk pastels, video, photography, Photoshop and Illustrator. Examples of his work can be seen at richardcaladine.com