Richard Shields

Richard Shields is a multidisciplinary artist, working with conceptually driven traditional skills through drawing,
painting and sculpture. With the use of ephemera from personal documents to mass produced objects, Shields produces interventions and site specific projects, unearthing unseen narratives behind the myth of the artist and self sustainment.
Moving into performance and film, his personal experiences are used in allegorical tales, embracing art history
as a conduit for contemporary issues. Wearing a crude paper maché mask of his own face, Shields journeys
though a range of theatrical genres from Opera, Commedia Del Arté and puppet theatres to Turntablism and
social media. Emulating his intervention work with historical and modern costume, the selection of garments create contradictions in both their place in history and society. Shields is a founding member of Paradise Works studios in Salford, Manchester and a resident artist in The Bomb Factory in London where he lives.