Introduce Artist
Richard Middlen
@richardmiddlen
Richard Middlen is a Southern California based visual artist. Weaving together his expertise in Art, Costuming and Animation, he blurs the boundaries that separate disciplines in exciting and unexpected ways. Creating video, soft sculpture, and paintings as objects, Middlen crafts experiences that both challenge and captivate his audience with layers of complexity.
Drawing from a diverse palette of inspirations, Middlen’s work is a dialogue with the viewer, where familiarity breeds contemplation, and bold experimentation meets the thrill of discovery. Influenced by a love of colorful characters that exist in the whimsical realms of children’s television, he invites a discourse that is as much about the art process as it is about sharing his inner child with the viewer.
At the heart of this project lies an exploration of the interplay between art and technology. It challenges the notion of technology as an imitator of the human psyche by presenting a reversal—where the human is cloaked in the guise of a digital realm. The result oscillates between the awkward and the sublime, reflecting the inherent tension in this duality.
In crafting this work, I have incorporated elements from costuming, collage, and performance to share a visual narrative of attempting to work towards a harmonious existence amidst challenging unknowns. The juxtaposition of the costumed humans’ clumsiness against their pristine, synthetic appearance, as well as the broader dichotomy of the 3D natural world versus the 2D artificial one, underscores the central theme. This body of work is a contemplation on technology’s trajectory—pondering, with an intact sense of humor, its potential as either a tool for solving humanity’s pressing issues or a catalyst for unprecedented challenges.
