The Intersection of Art & the Human Psyche: Drawings By Adam Riches
Adam Riches is a British contemporary artist hailing from Suffolk, whose work examines the human condition through monochromatic portrait drawings primarily done in ballpoint pen.
His practice is concerned with the investigation of the human form, and how the manipulation of such forms can communicate to the audience the human psyche. As well as the effects of current social and political issues on an individual, and the ways in which humans interact with one another. In addition to this, many of his melancholic pieces explore his childhood, and how he utilized his creativity as a form of self-expression.
It is often theorized that the first few years of a child’s existence is pivotal in the way they perceive the rest of their life. Riches explores the effects of the influence of multiple individuals on the development of a child’s core beliefs about themselves and the world around them. ‘Untitled A3–13–0018’, 2017, (pictured above) inspects this idea, illustrating a boy standing in a pensive position, whilst multiple faces emerge from his mind.
The line work is intuitive, with no clear plan attached to them. The faces are identity-less, adding to the mystique of the piece. The lines are layered, and depth is created through the density of these lines, the figures being gradually built up through a process of swift, fluid layering. Each figure is missing some sort of feature, indicating the slow decay of memory, and how the memories from childhood morph over time.
The use of a monochromatic colour scheme encourages the audience to look towards the intricacies of the pieces linework, rather than being distracted by a jarring colour palette. Riches states that he finds excitement through this process of intuitively creating his pieces and describes them as ‘happy accidents.’ He finds that through attaching two ballpoint pens, one on top of the other, so as to create more distance between his hand and the paper, allows for larger, more effortless strokes that come from the entire arm rather than isolated movements from the wrist.
Despite this, there is still a sense of detail and defined contour lines through the piece, particular through the young protagonist. His figure is defined and solidified, juxtaposing the wilted-like faces that float above him.
As a child, Riches was told not to pursue art, and he has stated that rediscovering his childhood interest in ‘doodling’ helped reignite his passion in drawing and is now fortunate enough to have pursued a career within art, despite the multitude of people attempting to influence him otherwise, this piece being a reflection of the authority of individuals from his childhood on his career later in life.
Through all forms of media, the angle from which the audience views the subject is imperative in the way a figure is perceived, and immediately establishes the power balance between audience and subject. Within ‘Untitled A4–13–0015’, 2017, (pictured above) Riches plays with power dynamics by placing a fading figure, built from his signature, spontaneous, continuous linework above the viewer. It looks down vaguely towards the direction of the viewer, yet avoids eye-contact, its eyes veering to the left.
Whilst this sort of angle is typically associated with putting the viewer in a point of weakness, whilst we look up towards it, the fading linework indicates a vulnerability on the subject’s end. The solemn expression emphasising this fact, as well as most of the detail and the density of the piece being focused on the face, in turn guiding the audience’s eyes towards it. This expression plays with the power dynamics being presented to the viewer. From this angle, one can expect to be presented with a figure that will demand power over us, but the melancholic expression on the figure communicates otherwise.
Other than within the face, Riches has chosen to omit detail from the rest of the piece, the figure continuing to wither, which is especially prevalent through the right side and bottom of the drawing, where the subject is reduced to almost as little as a few, swift strokes of the pen. Riches creates this linework through his process of attaching two ballpoint pens, one on top of the other to create length, and doing quick, natural scribble-like motions. He creates depth through the piece by layering these motions, focusing on specific areas to emphasise shadow and volume.
The strokes are created horizontally, so as to not immediately lead the audience’s eyes upwards, but to instead gradually lead the audience towards the focal point of the face. In turn, playing with power dynamics between subject and audience within ‘Untitled A4–13–0015’ by placing the subject above the audience yet illustrating a withering figure that omits a sense of vulnerability whilst simultaneously standing above the viewer.
When exploring the human experience, arguably one of the most difficult subjects for many artists, across all forms, to represent is the idea of death. Through his piece ‘Untitled A3–13–005’, 2018, (pictured above) Riches explores the concept of mortality, identity and the fading quality of life.
He makes a sort of meta-comment on existence, by representing something as elusive as human life and the human experience and placing it into the tangible form of a drawing. This is primarily seen through the subject use of a skull. Through omitting the lower jaw, and instead replacing it with globular linework, he creates a sense of decay through the piece, one that is carried through to the forehead. Whilst the subject matter is that of a skull, he has included the ears, despite ears not being seen on skulls. Through omitting one feature, the jaw, and the addition of the ears, Riches makes a commentary on the diversity of the human form. Riches has stated that many of his pieces are commentary of the ‘chaos that often lies beneath the surface of civility and order.’
The skull also acting as a quite literal metaphor for what lies beneath the face that many of us present to others during our daily lives. Through the use of an unidentifiable figure, he uses the human form as a universal language, something that can transcend race, identity, age and gender.
As Riches came from a background creating photorealistic drawings, his advanced knowledge of the human form and anatomy is translated through this piece. However, his descent from photorealism is as important, as it was the pillar in him exploring more experimental, uninhibited, and poignant styles such as the one within this piece.
His signature layering technique is seen through this piece, although unlike the others, there is not an emphasis on detail, but rather overall form and shape. This in turn creates an aura-like effect, rather than a piece with rigid outlines or details, working in a style he calls ‘figurative expressionism’, a style that places emphasis on the emotion evoked from the viewer due to the artwork’s content and visual aesthetic.
Through exploring this uninterrupted style of linework that aligns with the continuous nature of human life, Riches is able to touch on ideas such as mortality and identity to intrigue the audience’s understanding of oftentimes taboo subjects.
Adam Riches makes inquisitive commentary on the human psyche and experience through his ballpoint pen drawings. Riches’ work investigates notions such as life, death, identity and the trials and tribulations of an individual’s experience through his expressive usage of lines and form. Thus, highlighting his incredible ability to create pieces that can explore such boundless concepts with contrastingly modest resources.
