Henry Richardson

Henry Richardson, Sculptor
300 CPW 1A,
New York, NY 10024
e-mail: henry@henryrichardson.com
website: www.henryrichardson.com

While the sound of breaking glass calls to mind the image of destruction, Richardson uses broken glass as an element of creation. He cuts the glass, shapes it with a chisel, and then bonds it together to create his sculptures.

Danbury, CT 9-11 Memorial

THEMES OF RICHARDSON’S WORK
A constant theme of Richardson’s work is regeneration, the healing of the individual after trauma or emotional distress. “My work has metaphorical value,” he says. “It reminds us we’re all broken as human beings through life, constantly rebuilding ourselves, making us whole again.”One of Richardson’s Orb Series sculptures, Healing the World (Tikkun), addresses this theme. The word “Tikkun” means “ repairing the world” and comes from an ancient myth in which God created a sacred vessel of light, which was broken. The divine substance from this vessel became infused into every fragment of our world, including each and every one of us. When any one of us does a loving deed, an act of kindness, or a generous action, we become part of a collective force that mends the universe. But no words are needed to receive the hopeful and healing message of the sculpture. Viewers respond viscerally to an object that is at once massive and light, broken and whole, changing and still. Although the hollow sphere is six feet in diameter and weighs 5,000 pounds, the piece does not feel heavy because it emanates light. Because glass both refracts and reflects light, the sculpture’s radiance and mood are constantly changing in response to the light around it. The subtle animation of light invites peaceful contemplation, like a fire, or clouds, or bodies of water. Children are captivated by the work and are drawn to touch the surface and peek through small spaces to see the world inside.
Another work, the Cerulean Cross, a 16 foot, one ton, suspended Celtic cross created for a church in Florida, was seen by the parishioners as a symbol of both their individual fragility and their strength as a community of worship: “They saw it as a metaphor for sin and salvation, the light moving through the glass was like the spirit of God moving through them during worship.”

SAFETY AND DURABILITY
The bonded glass objects are virtually indestructible; they are safe, durable and tolerate the harshest weather conditions. Glass, a silica compound, naturally resists decay and erosion more than metal or stone. There are glass vessels and ornaments from ancient Egypt that are still perfect and intact. Richardson’s science background has helped him develop techniques to overcome the inherent fragility of glass.“I use polymers to act as a flux,” he says, “and intense ultraviolet radiation to fuse glass to glass.” Theses bonded glass sculptures can withstand pressures of over three thousand pounds per square inch.

RICHARDSON’ S CURRICULUM VITAE
Richardson grew up in various parts of the U.S. and South America and attended Haverford College where his artistic skills were sharpened under the tutelage of Charles Stegman and ChrisCairns. He graduated in 1983 with a degree in geology.
After graduating, Richardson moved to Washington, D.C. to accept an LBJ Congressional Internship and to pursue an art career. “I’ve known I wanted to be an artist since I was a boy,” Richardson says,” but I did not want to pursue a full-time teaching career as well.”
Richardson is an active professional member of the International Sculpture Center, gives lectures and in 2000 co-founded the Wit Gallery in Lenox, MA which also represents the sculpture of his former Haverford professor, Chris Cairns. His work has been juried into prestigious shows and is on display at galleries and museums throughout the United States.