Bio

Richard Anthony Peña is an outsider, an independent visual artist who quietly observes and captures the American landscape and life. His journey has spanned over nine geographical locations in the United States over the last forty years. Words like real, natural, and beautiful describe his definitive work, while words like otherworldly, ethereal, and cognitive describe his abstract work. Peña’s explorations are enduring, beautiful, and melancholy representations. The images are visual testaments lionizing the end of the last century and this present century with a lens toward the future. Peña grew up in New Mexico, where he developed his sense of exploration, curiosity, and imagination. Peña graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute and School of Design and year of post-graduate study at the Glassell School, Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Texas. Now resides in North Carolina.

Artist’s Statement

I have always been interested in photographic explorations and themes within the history of photography, using the agencies of traditional, social, and experimental landscapes. The body of work is longitudinal, engendering biographical, social, emotional, or cognitive experiences that define a sense of place, time, and state of being. My interpretation of the landscape becomes personal and spiritual, like the pronouns I and Thou, surveying and transforming the work into a unique yet collective biographical statement. The working methods are unplanned, spontaneous, and have unpredictable visual outcomes. Thus, the underlying creative energy is about the unpredictability of creativity, which is of interest in a way only traditional photographic and generative records can produce.

Portfolios

Social Landscapes | Black & White 20th Century Photography
Social Landscapes | Color Photography
Traditional Landscapes | Black & White Photography
Traditional Landscapes | Color Photography
Experimental Landscapes | Alternative Places
- Abstractions – Embryonic Forms Series
- Argus & Mystical Songs and Poetic Transformation | Diptychs
- Channel Surfing: The Icon Persona | SX 70 Polaroids
- Flora Nocturne | Still Lifes – The Secrets of Life
- L’Esprit du Mouvement | Modern Dance Photography
- Light Abstractions Series I & II
- Mobile Phone Photography | The Beauty of Transponding
- Negative Outcomes Series
- Panoramic Landscapes | The Constructed Image
- Single Entry Series
- Studies in Organic Unity Series | Color Abstractions
- Tone Poem Series
- Variations on the Disasters of War; Syria, Iraq, and the Levant | Politica | Montages

Description of Physical Materials

Archival Museum Quality Inks: These high-quality pigmented inks are stable and have accurate color fidelity, gloss levels, and scratch resistance.
Archival Substrate Dimensions: 16×20 Hahnemuhle William Turner 310 GSM Textured 100% Cotton.

Collections

North Carolina State University, Gregg Museum of Art and Design, Raleigh, North Carolina
Stephen F. Austin University, East Texas Research Center, Digital Collections, Nacogdoches, Texas

View Portfolio