Natalie Mae Richards' recent works hold the tension between poetry and painting. The viscous acrylic paint is layered against a ground of underlying graphite/charcoal text and images. The painted text is a signboard of sorts, making the private world public. Neon flashing against a black sky, broadcasting an internal monologue in the public sphere.

The black and white paintings are a dialogue between past and present, fact and perception. The portraits are inspired by photographs illustrating the lives of family. Perhaps more relevant than personal connections with the subjects is the universal quality of human emotion beheld in the eyes and body language of each subject. The intent is to illuminate the timeless aspects of humanity in the faces of dated history. Limiting the palette to black and white symbolizes not only the technological differences of the past but also societal/political boundaries. These paintings capture the transcendence of time through human emotions juxtaposed with the variables of ever changing surroundings.