CHRISTOPHER RICHMOND

b. 1986, Solana Beach, CA, USA

Christopher Richmond creates videos, photographs, and drawings that interweave the realism of documentary with the fantasy of science fiction and myth. Human and cosmic characters grapple with identity, loneliness, and nature. Alien and terrestrial landscapes explore the tension between reality and illusion. Handmade props and highly technical photographic techniques examine the gulf between fantastic, often surreal intergalactic set-pieces and their knowingly hyper-terrestrial, real actualities. Richmond examines our appetite for connecting signs to find meaning while delighting in subverting and exploiting these elements in service of an ever-expanding earthbound cosmology.

With homage to science fiction, self-reference, and retooled tropes, Richmond’s drawing expands the connectedness of this constructed universe while simultaneously recalling the defining tension in his time-based work. Precise rendering juxtaposes with gestural, forceful lines made with a marker. Here, the unexpected gives way to understanding, where empathy prevails and illuminates the often unexplained.

Christopher Richmond received his MFA from the University of Southern California’s Roski School of Art and Design in 2014. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California.