Charity Richards

BFA Drawing

ARTIST STATEMENT: Ever since I was a young artist, I wanted to draw the world. I enjoy using a variety of materials, anything from non traditional such as drink mix to using charcoal, marker, pen, and of course graphite. My primary influences stem from my depression and anxiety. Societal stereotypes and values play a huge role in how I view the world as an artist. As someone from a small town, I’ve always wanted some degree of privacy, simply wanting to get away from the constant pressures of others. My art implicates my strong willed desire to remain independent and always question the environment that influences my creations.

For my series of work, Expectations v Reality, I want to portray real struggles from life and compare it to the societal expectations of dealing with those issues. For most of the sets of images, I chose to compare it with topics such as sobriety, depression, anxiety, social media, self esteem, beauty, etc. These images are related to my personal experiences with said topics, using real photos that I have taken, along with experimentation with the media I’ve used.