Richard Tinkler

Richard Tinkler's paintings and drawings reflect an approach that is instinctual and labor intensive. His intricately layered pieces are simultaneously rigidly structured and hallucinatory.

Tinkler’s rigorous method of painting builds upon foundational imagery of geometric grids. By retaining a common vocabulary of shapes, colors, and method of application, each painting builds on the language of the preceding one and informs the structure of the next. Often created over the course of a single day, his works rely on an intuitive approach that precedes theoretical definition. By layering numerous chaotic layers over other, still-wet layers, a woven structure appears in which the geometric shapes appear to float, drift, and melt away. These patterned visions resemble psychedelic tapestries or mystical environments, where paint serves as both a physical and a metaphysical substance.

Equally central to Tinkler’s practice are his meticulously and obsessively rendered drawings. Tinkler’s drawings are kaleidoscopic abstractions that exploit a gridded compositional strategy to create complex and energetic geometries. Each drawing is developed over numerous sittings, and requires between twenty and thirty hours of diligence to reach a finished state.

Tinkler received a BA in 1999 from the University of North Texas, and an MFA in 2003 from Hunter College.