Indigo Richards’ kunstneriske praksis undersøger, hvordan forskellige subjektive erfaringer former menneskets blik på verden. I maleriet arbejder hun med at skabe åbne billedrum, hvor betydningen ikke er entydigt fastlagt, men inviterer beskueren til aktivt at medskabe værkets fortælling og fortolkning. Centralt i hendes arbejde står interessen for det gådefulde og det endnu uerkendte – en søgen efter lag af mening, som også kan åbne for nye erkendelser hos kunstneren selv.
Richards er en del af kunstgruppen QWERTY, hvor hun arbejder med performance, relationel æstetik, objekter og installation. Denne tværæstetiske undersøgelse af relationer, handlinger og rum har gennem årene fungeret som en væsentlig inspirationskilde for hendes maleriske arbejde. I QWERTY værker er publikum en aktiv deltager og del af værket.
Gennem mere end 30 års undervisning i maleri har Richards samtidig erfaret, hvordan individuelle perspektiver former den kunstneriske proces: Den samme opgave giver anledning til fundamentalt forskellige visuelle udtryk og understreger kunstens potentiale som et felt for mangfoldige erkendelsesformer.
Richards arbejder bevidst med et malerisk udtryk, der fremstår umiddelbart og ubesværet. Denne tilsyneladende lethed dækker dog over en omfattende, procesbaseret praksis præget af gentagelser, fejl og forsøg. Det er gennem denne vedholdende afsøgning, at det præcise strøg og værkets energi opstår.
Motivisk kredser hendes værker ofte om fragmenter og abstraktioner af det nære og det levede: naturformer, hverdagslige observationer og omgivelser fra hendes eget liv. Svampe fra atelierets græsplæne, kaktus fra kunstophold i Mexico, naboer og industrielle landskaber som affaldsbjerget ved havnen i Odense indgår som visuelle afsæt, der transformeres til maleriske strukturer og rytmer.
Hun har udviklet en særegen teknik baseret på flydende farvelag og vådt-i-vådt—processer, hvor materialer som akvarel, akryl og vandbaseret olie anvendes på lærredet i en kontinuerlig forhandling mellem kontrol og opløsning.
I 2025 præsenterede hun projektet SOLOPGANG på Hollufgård i Odense (malerier) sammen med kunstneren Tine Louise Kortermand (sangperformance og installation) i 2024 A Haven hos Galleri ArtC, baseret på ophold i Oaxaca, Mexico (2023). I 2023 viste hun Metal Mountain hos Galleri Sandberg, inspireret af affaldsbjerget ved Odense Havn. Tidligere har botaniske studier med reference til Carl von Linné dannet grundlag for udstillingen ARTER (2009) hos Gallerie Rasmus og Det Ny Kastet i Thisted.
Som del af kunstnergruppen QWERTY har Richards udstillet internationalt, herunder i New York, Stockholm, Helsinki, Lissabon og Berlin
Indigo Richards’ artistic practice explores how diverse subjective experiences shape the human perspective on the world. In her painting, she creates open pictorial spaces where meaning is not fixed; instead, she invites the viewer to actively co-create the work’s narrative and interpretation. Central to her work is an interest in the enigmatic and the as-yet-unrealized—a quest for layers of meaning that can also unlock new insights for the artist herself.
Richards is part of the art collective QWERTY, working with performance, relational aesthetics, objects, and installation. This interdisciplinary exploration of relationships, actions, and spaces has long served as a vital source of inspiration for her painting. In QWERTY’s works, the audience acts as an active participant and an integral part of the piece itself.
With over 30 years of experience teaching painting, Richards has observed how individual perspectives shape the artistic process: a single assignment can give rise to fundamentally different visual expressions, underscoring art’s potential as a realm for diverse ways of knowing.
Richards consciously cultivates a painterly style that appears immediate and effortless. Yet, this apparent ease conceals an extensive, process-driven practice defined by repetition, error, and experimentation. It is through this persistent exploration that the precise brushstroke and the work’s energy emerge.
In terms of subject matter, her works often revolve around fragments and abstractions of the immediate and the lived: natural forms, everyday observations, and surroundings from her own life. Mushrooms from the studio lawn, cacti from an artist residency in Mexico, neighbors, and industrial landscapes—such as the mountain of waste at the Odense harbor—serve as visual starting points that are transformed into painterly structures and rhythms.
She has developed a distinctive technique based on fluid layers of color and wet-on-wet application—processes in which materials such as watercolor, acrylic, and water-miscible oil are applied to the canvas in a continuous negotiation between control and dissolution.
In 2024, Richards presented the solo exhibition A Haven at Galleri ArtC, based on an artist residency in Oaxaca, Mexico (2023). In 2023, she exhibited Metal Mountain at Galleri Sandberg, inspired by a mountain of waste at the harbor in Odense where her studio is located. Earlier, botanical studies referencing Carl von Linné formed the basis of the exhibition ARTER (2009) at Gallerie Rasmus and Det Ny Kastet in Thisted.
Together with the art group QWERTY, Richards has exhibited internationally, including New York, Stockholm, Helsinki, Lisbon, and Berlin
Armpit painting performance at Juxtapose Art Fair 2021, Århus, Godsbanen with QWERTY. https://www.juxtaposeartfair.com/