Richard Ellis

Artist Statement

Richard Ellis has substantial experience of producing work which is both innovative and accessible, mainly for the public realm. His most recent projects have been large-scale works in steel and brick, but he is able to work with materials and processes as diverse as wood, bronze, water and light. This flexibility is due to his being a designer usually allowing other experts to fabricate work. He is also able to collaborate with other artists, and built environment professionals. His aim is to create works which have meaning to a wide audience, but which is subtle and presents images and ideas in novel ways. His thematic material is informed by many sources, including community involvement, and social and industrial history. He also considers it vital that as well as being appropriate and relevant to its audience, a work should have strong aesthetic qualities and relate to its surroundings. He has also developed a range of educational interventions, with a particular emphasis on 'holistic' projects in schools, where various strands of the curriculum are woven together as a meaningful whole in a project. The built environment provides rich material for such work. Sometimes school projects have led to permanent commissions.