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

    For years, Richardson has been developing techniques to create and display large outdoor glass sculpture. Using chiseled glass bonded with certain polymers his sculptures now stand up to the harshest weather conditions.

    A constant theme of his work is regeneration, the healing of the individual after trauma or emotional distress. "The process of creating my work has metaphorical value," he says. "It reminds us we're all broken as human beings through life, constantly rebuilding ourselves, making ourselves whole again."

    One of Richardson's Orb Series sculptures, Healing the World (Tikkun), addresses this theme in the title. "Tikkun, the word, comes from the Hebrew phrase "Tikkun Olam" which simply means: repairing the world. According to the oral tradition of Hebrew mysticism, as God created the universe, divine substance became infused into every aspect of our material world including each and every one of us. When any one of us does a good deed, an act of kindness, a beneficent gesture, we become part of a collective force that mends the universe."

    Although the hollow sphere is six feet in diameter and weighs 5,000 pounds, the piece does not feel massive because it emanates light. Children are captivated by the work and feel a visceral connection to a familiar shape with magical qualities. When the work is exhibited, people are continually touching the surface and peaking inside small spaces to see the interior space.

    Another work, the Cerulean Cross, a 16 foot Celtic cross created for a church in Florida, was seen by the parishioners as a symbol of their fragility: "They saw it as a metaphor for sin and salvation, the light moving through the glass like the spirit moving through them during worship."

    Richardson, a Quaker, grew up in various parts of the U.S. and South America and attended Haverford College where his artistic skills were sharpened under the direction of Charles Stegman and Chris Cairns. He graduated 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 knew 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." During his years in Washington he worked at various jobs and, in the studio, mixed media, creating sculptures of embedded glass in concrete and studio furniture made from glass, marble and exotic wood. Once he was in a position to dedicate himself completely to his art, he moved his studio to Massachuset and began working with cold chiseled glass as his primary medium. His science background proved invaluable as he developed a new techniques in bonding plate glass. "I use polymers to act as a flux," he says, "and intense ultraviolet radiation to fuse glass to glass."

    Richardson's work is currently represented by the Gallery Henoch in New York and other galleries throughout the United States. In addition studio work, 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.

    For further information, to inquire about a sculpture or for questions or comments please click on the "Contact" button on the left.