Join us in Bend for an exhibition of
figurative paintings by Dan Rickards
Saturday, October 3 · 12–8 PM
Open to the public · Free admission
Open Space Event Studios
Bend, Oregon
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
These works are not intended as portraits of individuals, but as explorations of a shared emotional experience. Rather than relying on narrative, I search for a visual language where light, gesture, color, and painterly mark carry the conversation.
The body becomes both specific and anonymous—familiar enough to invite recognition, yet open enough for viewers to find themselves within it. Some paintings speak through quiet restraint, while others embrace greater emotional intensity, allowing expressive color and bold brushwork to reveal what exists beneath the surface. Sharp detail and dissolving edges coexist intentionally, reflecting the way memory and emotion are experienced: certain moments remain vividly defined while others soften, blur, and transform over time.
While this work may appear to depart from my landscape paintings, it grows from the same lifelong pursuit. Whether painting a figure or a horizon, I am drawn to the quiet dialogue between light and shadow, presence and absence, observation and feeling. The subject has changed, but the search remains the same.
Over the past twelve years, this series has become an exploration of what exists between the lines—between realism and abstraction, presence and absence, certainty and memory. Light reveals not only form but feeling, and the act of painting itself becomes a way of expressing what words often cannot.
“For as long as I can remember, I’ve been both an artist and an athlete. At times those identities felt unrelated, but looking back I see they have always informed one another. The discipline to keep showing up, to begin again, to trust the process when the finish line isn’t visible, has shaped this body of work as much as any brushstroke.”
This exhibition represents more than a collection of paintings. It represents 12 years of taking risks and following an instinct I couldn’t fully explain. In many ways it feels like standing at the summit after a long climb-grateful for not only the views but for the journey.
DAN RICKARDS
For more than three decades, Dan Rickards has pursued a simple but enduring goal: to create paintings that move people. Since becoming a full-time artist in 1991, his work has evolved from celebrating the beauty of the natural world to exploring the quiet beauty and complexity of the human spirit.