.artist talk
* Adam Riches

with Nikkolos Mohammed

Balance is the reach for artists to gain autonomy. There is a lot of historical weight and expectations for it to be considered a reach; fear. The weight of the word Art comes with an expectation of innovation, which leads to hybridity. Through the process of hybridity, comes the practice of reduction to get then reach clarity. The name of the game is figuring out the balance and this questions: how long can you remain balanced in a world that is ever-changing? Constantly, we dream of being creatively pure, and consistently sustainable all at the same time.

Artistic practices usually start with the journey of discovering truth of self. In that discovery, we may search for answers within expectations of who we should be and hopefully we end up just being. The story of chaos and order is the same story of compare and contrast, while their identities involve their opposition.

CONFLICTING GESTURES AND ITS FRICTIONS ARE A NARRATIVE THAT TRAVELS IN THE MONOCHROMATIC WORK OF ADAM RICHES.

Describe the gravitation toward working in a monochromatic palette?
I think painting in monochrome has been a natural progression from drawing. I’ve been drawing since I was a child and didn’t start painting until I was thirty. My instinct was to paint in monochrome.


What does the narrative of your gestures convey?
Is there a consistent narrative?
The gestures and marks making in my work have changed quite dramatically over the years. I used to make fairly loose pen drawings from my imagination when I was younger. I went for several years without doing much drawing at all, until I became interested in realism. I went through a period of creating photorealistic pencil drawings. The drawings were really time- consuming and I didn’t feel particularly satisfied creatively. I then began a BA in Fine Art and started to gradually move away from photo-realism and begin to make more loose and expressive works. I often start work with chaotic gestures and try to pull it back towards some kind of order. I think I’m trying to find the balance between order and chaos, in the process and the end result.


Does your work address an identity problem with your portraiture?
If so, do you think there is a solution?
It’s possible that it is happening subconsciously. The topic of identity seems to be very prevalent in our culture today. I’m not sure that there is a solution to something like that.


Is there a different emotional experience for the viewer to interact with between the pen works compared to the paintings?
I think the scale with probably affect the way that the viewer experiences the work. The drawings are usually on relatively small pieces of paper and some of the paintings are much larger.

.artist talk
Adam Riches
speaks with
Nikkolos Mohammed
first published in:
issue 30, 01/2021

Because of your explorations of the human psyche, what do you think are social and political issues that have an effect on your process during this time?


I consume a lot of information about political and social issues - even more so these days with social media. It would appear that society is becoming more polarised and tribal. Some of my work tries to convey the solitude and alienation that can be felt by people who feel that they don’t have a place within that system.

TO GAIN AUTONOMY OVER OUR CREATIONS, WE USUALLY RESORT TO THE FREEDOM OF OUR INTUITIONS. THE STRENGTH OF ADAN RICHES’ WORK RESIDES IN THE SOLITUDE OF HIS SELF-TRUTH, AND THE HONESTY OF SHARING THAT TRUTH THROUGH HIS DRAWINGS AND PAINTINGS.

credit header &  images (c) 	Adam Riches, Nadia Arnold