Richard Penn

Richard Penn started working at DKW in 2010 on a series of monotypes. Using nature magazines and images captured
by the Hubble Telescope as his references, he immersed himself in exploring the simultaneity of macroscopic
and microscopic scale in his artworks. Looking at the of scale and distance on a single sheet of paper, Penn illustrated
how within a single dot the representation of an atom could, in that simultaneous instant,
also be a scaled section of the galaxy.

Penn states, “We have easy access to images of deep space taken by numerous telescopes and cameras which depict objects spanning hundreds, thousands even millions of light years across and millions and even billions of light years distant.” Taking into consideration, the fact that the raw data is always received in black and white, Penn uses a real visual representation of the universe through the telescope. A huge distance is covered although it is only focused
on a tiny piece of the sky.

Penn has often worked with the notion of ‘origins’ in his work. He says, “Initially I worked with photographic imagery
in which I examined certain gestures of my father which threw me back to my childhood and brought to the surface intimations and images of my grandfather.” This interest in the origin of life naturally panned outwards and extended
to origins of the universe. At first he says, “I was trying to articulate an inherited gesture.” The imagery began
with photographs of the artist’s father. He started zooming in to the photograph closer each time until the figure
became an abstract blur. This he associated with the cosmos.

In the same way, the minute dots forming the soft grey areas of his monotypes capture the images of deep space
and simultaneously become reminiscent of static seen on television in its quality. This static is said to be a result of radiation that is still travelling through space after the birth of the universe, also known as the Big Bang. The artist investigates
our limited understanding of reality in terms of scale and distance.

Text:  David Krut Projects

AVAILABLE WORKS

Dissolve, Monotype 375mm x 295mm

ARCHIVED WORKS

Swarm, Etching  600mm x 450mm