Based in London, Chris Richford is a multidisciplinary artist working across linocut, silkscreen printmaking, and alternative fashion. Since he began screen printing back in 2014, Chris’ art practice has gradually focussed in on printing techniques, with a variety of end products. As well as editioned art prints, he creates garments and accessories under the moniker Mantid Snip and sculptural art pieces with the TBA Artist Collective.
“I feel incredibly lucky to have built a working business that not only revolves around my creative practice but actually now informs and inspires it,” declares the artist. He continues; “When I first made the leap to becoming self employed I knew I would have to be realistic (not easy for an artist!) and find a balance between following my pure creative flow, and using my inspirations to produce products and facilitate other peoples ideas through commission work. Now, more than ever, I appreciate that middle ground where both those boxes are ticked and I’m always chasing opportunities and projects like that.”
It is the fashion and apparel side of Chris’ practice that ultimately ended up becoming his driving force. “It turns out my designs look good on clothes and when I discovered repeat pattern techniques it really lit up my mind,” comments Chris. Music has also always been a huge inspiration in both life and work, and he has loved working on album covers and band merchandise.
With a higher education background primarily in bio-science, Chris discovered printmaking post-studies. “Back then I thought academic subjects would be a better use of my time. I was, and am, fascinated by nature and science. Though, I wasn’t really cut out for it in the long term and most of the time I should have been studying I was creating music and art,” says the now artist. However, he “doesn’t regret this choice in the slightest”, and his time spent studying science now seeps into his art on many levels.
After completing a masters degree in Plant Genetics & Crop Improvement Chris ended up taking a job as a software tester for a company working in automated farming and applied GPS management software. While working there he got involved with Print to the People, an artist led studio with print rooms which had facilities for screen, relief, and intaglio printing, as well as letterpress, and even a Risograph machine. Chris comments; “It was so inspiring to be part of that group and though I had shown my artwork in local galleries I started to see a future for myself in art that was more than just a hobby”. Here, he not only learned how to print and run workshops, but it propelled him to start selling his work online. After leaving the software company, Chris focused on textile printing and worked part time as a print room technician at Norwich University of the Arts. He then I moved to London and joined the team at Print Club London. He remarks; “…it just goes to show, anyone out there with a creative fire who is maybe feeling stuck in their day job, it is possible to succeed in the arts on your own terms!”
Besides his scientific background, inspiration for Chris’ works come from a variety of sources; from David Lynch to Meshuggah, Marina Abramović to The Mars Volta , and H.P Lovecraft to Nemesis the Warlock. Ultimately, it is life and its forms and outcomes that inform his creative output, evoking both the wonder and terror of our world. Chris describes to us; “It is still inexplicable how consciousness arises from the mechanisms of nature and I think it always will be. Studying biology and genetics really gives an appreciation for both the preciseness of the components and the sometimes terrifying chaos present in both biochemistry and in the broader systems of the natural world. Then somehow from all of this, consciousness arises like a sublime joke unto itself. All the thoughts and emotions that make it worthwhile to be alive, and to suffer, and to create art, and to appreciate it. The bacteria can do without all this apparently, but can we?”
Chris concludes; “My framework for progress is to continue doing things I love, get better at them, re-combine them in new and exiting ways, and of course get paid for it!” He’s hoping to soon combine his love for printmaking with taxidermy, so keep your eyes peeled for some intriguing results! His advice for fellow creatives? “I had no idea 5 years ago that today I’d be stitching dress shirts and hoodies together with pattern fabric I’d printed myself. So you just have to follow the threads, metaphorically and sometimes literally and make the most of where you end up.”
chrisgealerichford.com
@chrisrichford
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