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Memory Chain)
Voyage)
RequiemRick started his glass career in stained glass studios in Tampa, where he lived and worked until he came to Asheville, NC, in 1998. Even with his move to the mountains, Rick's work continues to be influenced by "the transformational power of wind, water, sand, and sun... either in form, color, or surface treatment."
Rick is largely self-taught and has mastered several techniques: blowing, casting, etching, engraving, sandblasting, etc. His interest in form and technique manifests in two very different types of work: one primarily functional and the other narrative/sculptural, often theme-based. In Rick's functional lighting and light sculptures, unique optical effects are created by the incorporation of etched, hand-blown, textured, and opalescent glass. Shape is often emphasized in his functional vessels by the use of sandblasted clear glass.
Multiple media are incorporated in a series of narrative, spiritual pieces combining weathered brass with blown or cast glass that has been enhanced with varied cold-working techniques. This body of work, which includes Rick's unique glass books, provides a forum wherein he explores various issues of philosophy, spirituality, and popular culture. "As the new millennium begins, the information available to us speeds up at a mind-numbing rate. I try to sift through these mountains of data to create objects which transcend referential signatures of time, place, and style."
