Description
Eli Richard is an artist and designer working in the Phoenix Metro area. His work focuses on playful and often imaginative imagery. Eli moved to Arizona from Northern California in 2013 and found immediate inspiration in the colors and landscape of the desert. Screen printing has always been his favorite media choice but more recently has worked in wood and metal sculptures.
His sculpture depicting the phrase “Ch-ch-changes” in plastic and steel for the art plinth at Daily Park for IN FLUX Cycle 9, is appropriated from David Bowie’s song “Changes.” With many possible interpretations of the song’s meaning, the most common theme is that of reinvention and transformation. This concept was chosen to represent the transformation that the city of Tempe is experiencing as it evolves to accommodate its rapidly growing population. The sculpture is installed so the front of the artwork faces west with the back facing east. On each face, a color gradient will be printed to mimic the skyline’s sunrise and sunset, meant to call attention to how much change can happen in one day. The letters of the sculpture are confined to a small horizontal plane and stacked on top of each other much like the new buildings currently being built.