Ekun Richard

Ekun Richard relishes rich, earthy tones that celebrate the physicality of nature. Working with oil on canvas, his pieces exhibit a natural warmth and gentle sense of wit. “Colour is of high importance to my work,” he says. “I mix five other hues into each colour to create a palpable sense of depth.” His paintings begin as words, which set an emotional intention and often become the title of the piece. “I write a phrase in my sketchbook in response to what I observe and experience,” says Richard. “The words remind me of the emotion of the situation, and the colours that were present, which allows me to recreate that moment as a painting.”

Richard studied graphic art and design at Leeds School of Art, and as part of the course, spent one year studying at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Art in Dijon, France, where he created his first paintings. “I learned to become meticulous about my practice, assessing each aspect of my work, from the ratios of the paper to the mixing of the colours,” he says. “I love observing intricate details of the human experience, whether that’s personal or historical, and drawing on them to create visual narratives, using my language of shape, colour and texture to tell the story.”

Richard has exhibited his work in London, Bath and Manchester in the UK, as well as Dijon, France and Dallas, US. Before painting, he explored street photography around Leeds, which taught him the art of composition. “Some of the photographers I was investigating at the time, such as Alex Webb, compose their photographs so well,” he says. “Everything is balanced between the foreground, background, high and low, all within the confines of a 35mm frame. That is what I hope to achieve in my work: a balanced composition. In a way, my paintings bear a semblance to photography in their conception: I aim to take a snapshot of a moment, a fleeting feeling or emotion, and transform that into a precise composition.”