Anna Richards
Anna Richards is a visual artist based in Macon GA completing her BA in Studio Art at Wesleyan College. She works mostly in abstract painting, collage, photography, and video. Her work focuses on the unseen and overlooked. In her work, she makes connections with her own internal reflection and the outward interactions with the world. Through abstraction, Anna transforms obscure subjects in order to elevate and share unique aspects of humanity.
How did your creative journey begin?
As a kid I was really drawn to film and always thought I would be an actress. My creative journey began in theater but as I got older I gravitated away from the stage and more towards the visual aspects of productions. I experimented with costume and stage design which eventually led me to taking a drawing class and the rest is history. I dropped out of college when I was 19 and spent the next 8 years experimenting with art in my free time while working at a gallery. I decided to go back to college when I was 27 which allowed for me to start taking my art practice and career as an artist more seriously.
What inspires your work?
My work is inspired by the unseen and overlooked aspects of the world and society. I look at my own personal experience, the experience of others, and general observations of daily life and try to share these stories through my art. A lot of my work involves research, surveying, objects, and observations. Through abstraction, I try to transform this information into work that really elevates these obscure aspects of the world.
Can you describe your process?
I journal a lot, so usually an idea will start with something I’m curious about or working through. Once I have pinned down a subject I then began research and thinking about the format I will be exploring. Lately material language has been a big theme in my work and how I can use materials to express my ideas. A lot of this process involves experimenting with the materials until I have developed it into a new language I can use throughout the work.
How has your work evolved over time?
I have never been able to focus on using just one medium. Even when I was 19 I would be drawing one day and then producing videos the next. I think there will always be this division between my imagination and reality, which I balance between painting and video and photography. My work continues to evolve as I try to connect my internal experience with my observations on the external world.
What does a typical creative day look like for you?
I’m very deliberate about having boundaries around my work time. I schedule consistent time to be in the studio working. Because my work is so process based I focus a lot on just showing up and getting started, knowing that the work will evolve and dictate itself as I move through the creative process. I run and play tennis and find that the mental focus I have to have to perform well in those situations is very similar to the mental place I need to put myself in in order to create. It’s a balance of knowing when to let your natural instinct flow and when to let your analytical brain kick in. A really great playlist also helps too.
Do you have any words of wisdom for other artists and creatives?
Keep making and put in time at the studio. Make sure you are having fun, if you are not having fun then you are probably doing something wrong. Remember there are no rules.
