Tracy Richardson

American Painter & Sculptor

I am an Los Angeles based, self taught painter with studio hours in ceramics, printmaking, sculpture and welding. Interested in art from a young age, early influences included Peter Max, Louise Bourgeois, Mark Rothko, sculptor Louise Nevelson.

In the late 1980’s I enrolled in a sculpture class where I became interested in the mental, physical and spiritual process of creating art on a larger scale. In my  piece, “Dream Catcher” (1992), the process of using fire to burn the wood was the beginning of noticing the art having a life of its own by introducing natural elements and destruction being part of the artistic process.

During the pandemic, I began a series based on deconstructing my own artwork, a subconscious way to rebuild a new life, using found objects around my neighborhood to recreate and reimagine along with my own. Pandemic-era success came in the form of being featured in an online art show with ACCA Gallery in addition to sales through her website.

In 2022, I became  interested in aerial drone photography and decided to study and become FAA licensed to fly drones. It was then in 2023, I began using my drone as an extension of myself as the painter. I modified my paint brushes and attached  them to the drone and fly them over the canvas to make large abstract paintings via remote control. In the new series I am utilizing large outdoor spaces to create larger paintings with the materials at hand, (panels of 18x24 Sax heavy weight paper and acrylic paint). Letting the drone hover above the panels, touching the panels lightly, letting the wind push the brushes, inviting the intermittent breezes are all parts of this creative process, integrating earth, air and water. It is my hope for the viewer to experience the perspective from the filmed perspective of the drone while it is painting, allowing for a more immersive experience of the process. While the second drone is in the air documenting, this a helpful tool in explaining the process of my practice, while providing another perspective.