Richard Holland Artist
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Artist Statement

I am a Englishman and a Citizen living in America for nearly 25 years and my work is rooted here.

Richard Holland, Artist, brings his production design skills to his artistic vision in his growing body of dimensional artworks. 

Drawing on his vast experience Production Designing and Art Directing for Film and Television,Holland’s singular, unique and highly original style, reflects a montage of storytelling that brings together his experiences, influences and skilled techniques.The artwork is visually beautiful .His ornately carved picture frames and graphic iconic images portray life as scripted worlds, encapsulated in time. The world is a magnificent stage where pathways cross and realities unfold before our very eyes. It is a world captured within and outside the box. There are influences Ando Riley,Mark Ryden and Michael Ray all of which he has developed into his own individual style.Varieties of found objects are used to enhance the detailed effect,created by sculpting, casting and painting.

The custom frames are as integral to the storytelling as the box contents themselves. All frames are handmade using laser cutting, hand or electric scroll saw. Finishes are hand painted and at times during development are computer enhanced.This attention to frames is an integral part of the storytelling and harkens back to many periods in art history—starting with the Old Masters through to Tramp Art and Folk Art.

The methods of using cut outs derive from his teachings in perspective by having worked with some of the most celebrated greats in the Industry.The work is often bright and colorful and seemingly decorative from a distance; however, it is laden with the realities of a life spent in the Entertainment industry behind the fairytale scenes. The layering effects in each work tell the deeper story of it all.

The curtain now opens and the stage is now set.

 

I am a Englishman and a Citizen living in America for nearly 25 years and my work is rooted here.

I am a film production designer and an artist. When the film industry started to leave Los Angeles for better tax benefits elsewhere, I started to tell personal stories through my fine artwork. Today, I am finally able to rededicate my life to working as the fine artist I set out to be in my career.I arrived in America from London in 1993 when I came to work on 20th Century Fox The Last of the Mohicans film as Supervising Art Director and I never went home.  

My work as a production designer  on Films totally influences my approach to my artwork.  I build stories from the outside in; personal stories, that reflect a universal script.  The script is followed by several “sets or paintings” that tell the story.  Each painting explores a set theme ,  until I feel I’ve expressed the story as fully as I can.

A key part of my Portraits are the frames that becomes a visual and sometimes verbal extension of the storytelling. THE portraits are traditionally rendered,fused together  with a overall sense of uniqueness.

 The work, highly layered with dimension and storytelling features, reflects my observations about American Politics, American Values, the economic landscape and living the American Dream in California and America.  The paintings require intense research for their historical perspective on my American state of mind. The paintings are often set in times gone by or in iconic places since forgotten. This is in keeping with my approach to designing films. A big part of the pre-production film process is laden with research to embrace the world a film inhabits. I draw artistic inspiration from the work of political satirists throughout the ages and artists like Mark Ryden, for his beautiful worlds and frames, and Michael Charles Ray for his rustic technique. 

Along with my portraits  my artworks use perspective, computer compositing and skill-based production design techniques like draftsmanship, drawing, and painting learned in the European tradition of apprenticeship training when I started in the film industry. The work begins with freehand drawing that utilizes several techniques. The cut outs in the work derive from the use of perspective I used in films like Princess Bride  Indiana Jones, Labyrinth and Roger Rabbit. The colors used in the artworks are purposefully muted to telegraph America’s iconic images and place rooted in the past. Influences from past entertainment venues, such as the Circus and Fairgrounds, are present along with my love for Americana. The layering effects in each work tell the deeper story beyond the iconic recognition. The curtain opens and the stage is set.

As a film production designer I see the big picture story or theme of a project and then break it down into its parts—in film it is sets with walls; in my art it is paintings within frames. They say every good film starts with a good script.  In my artwork, my primary source material is the subject matter . As a European,I am steeped in history, and I bring that to my work to play out today in a very American way.