“My sculptures have always been about capturing a feeling or emotion, mostly introspective, quiet and contemplative, and for years I expressed this sculpturally through the human form. I wanted to take a break from the figure and have always been inspired by the horse as portrayed throughout history in art. Horses symbolize power, grace and movement, and I felt that once I removed the human element and replaced it with the horse while maintaining the human emotion, my subject matter became more relatable to a larger audience. The inspiration behind this body of work was to portray a brief moment or a gesture in the portrait of a horse. Horses have played a vital role in the history of mankind, and for centuries artists have used their image to document our relationship together. I am not trying to replicate the anatomy of a horse, but instead break down the form into its basic shapes represented more as a silhouette. This keeps the eye from focusing on the details of the anatomy and lets the viewer follow the sweeping gestural lines of the form, using the energy and sense of motion to create visual tension.”
For the majority of his career, Ross Richmond’s sculptures have focused mainly on the figure, capturing a moment, a gesture, a quiet interaction between people or an individual and their thoughts. Animals have also played an important role in his work, either being included along with the figurative pieces referencing humans relationship with the natural world, or more recently the animal as stand alone pieces highlighting the forms of these natural and elegant creatures portraying them in an almost human manner. Ross has been working with glass since 1991, where he took his first glass class while studying to be an illustrator at the Cleveland Institute of Art, graduating with a BFA majoring in Glass with a minor in small metals (jewelry) in 1994. Ross began working with the glass master William Morris in 1997 and worked alongside him until his retirement in 2007. During his career Ross has worked with and for some of the greatest glass and non glass artists, including William Morris, Jane Rosen, Preston Singletary and Dale Chihuly, who have all been mentors and inspirations throughout his artistic journey.
“All of my work is Blown and Hot Sculpted, meaning that nothing is cast or mold blown, all pieces are made by hand while hot on the pipe in the glass shop. First I establish the main shape of the piece, then I allow the glass to cool working it in a colder state so that I have a more “solid core” to work from. If the piece is too hot, the shape will distort as the details are brought out. I use a small oxygen-propane torch for all of the detail work, which allows me a greater variety of flame shapes and sizes to work with. Heads and legs are typically solid, whereas all bodies are blown and hollow. All colors are applied in layers of glass powders and the final piece is sandblasted and coated with a lacquer to give a satin finish.”
