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Artist Exhibitions:
Solo Shows
2000 Paintings, Ann Arbor Art
Center, Ann Arbor, MI
2000 Visual Playgrounds,
Duncan & Miller Gallery,
Washington DC
1999 Figure This, Plymouth
Community Arts Council,
Plymouth, MI
1998 Gatherings: B.F.A.
Exhibition, Eastern Michigan
University
1997 Recent Oil Pastels, Mud
House Café Ypsilanti, MI
Group Shows
1998 A...
Further Information
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Artist Galleries:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Reviews:
Coming Soon!
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Collections:
Coming Soon!
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Commissions:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Statement for Rick Wedel
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After a childhood in rural Kansas, spent convinced he'd be a writer --Rick
describes himself as a former "prepubescent geek who saved up his money
to buy a thesaurus"--he suddenly lost all interest in writing."That was my
creative outlet, and it was the most important thing to me. For some reason
it just stopped. I didn't really give myself an outlet until I went to school to
do video and computer graphics. Even at that point, I had never picked up
a paint brush or drawing pencil".
The five years he spent producing videos for Ford Motor Company were critical
to Rick's development as an artist. "Through my time in video production I
learned that my main interest was in manipulating images to cause a
connection with a viewer." This drive eventually led Rick to explore computer
graphics and animation, and ultimately brought him to the fine arts program
at Eastern Michigan University, where he intended to major in graphic design.
Consistent with his inconsistency, he never took a graphic design course.
Rick's exposure to oil media, oil pastel on paper, and oil on canvas led to a
passion that replaced technology as his means of making images—and making
connections with the observer. Rick ultimately earned his B.F.A. cum laude
with concentrations in drawing and painting and minors in art history and
telecommunications.
Rick is motivated by his interest in visual investigation. An important area
of exploration: boundaries. "I take great pleasure in exploring the slight
difference between something being recognized as an arm and being recognized
as a landscape. I don't want specifics. I'd rather create little visual
playgrounds for people to have some fun with. If my work were whittled down
to bare essentials, that's it. It about wanting to enjoy an image that evolves, that
will have some life of its own--that over time remains enjoyable to look at."
Rick often opts for texture over detail to achieve the forms in his works. "I
enjoy creating anonymous figures because it encourages interpretation, and
brings a sense of the infinite. To me, concealing the identity of figures and
environments is an invitation to the viewer. That the viewer brings something
to the work that makes it personal for them is very important to me. Art
becomes memorable when people make their own connections with it. In my work
I have sought to make these associations possible by creating starting
points. Each viewer then goes their own way."
You can contact Rick at rickwedel@hotmail.com and see more of his work
at http://www.geocities.com/rickwedel
Suzanne Ceppos
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contact artist
