MEET THE ARTIST

Anji Richards is a Black British artist based in London. Primarily a portraitist, her practice also moves through figurative abstraction, abstraction and illustration, using oil, acrylic, ink, pigment, collage and line drawing.

 

Her work explores Black identity, representation and the visual language of the body. Drawing on Afrofuturist ideas, beauty, fashion, culture, subculture, class and media, Richards examines how individuals and communities are seen, labelled and interpreted.

 

Skin tone, light and the nude figure are recurring elements in her practice. Through the body, Richards explores presence, vulnerability, strength and the politics of looking. Clothing, pose and gesture also hold an important place in her work, reflecting her interest in style as a form of communication, confidence and identity.

 

Growing up in London in a Jamaican family, Richards was influenced by the care, pride and self-expression found in the way her parents, elders and wider community dressed. This awareness of style, and of how clothing can shape perception, connects closely to her interest in race, class and representation.

 

Line has always been central to her work. With artistic roots in fashion design and fashion illustration, her mark-making is loose, gestural and expressive, bringing a sense of movement, rhythm and freshness to her paintings and drawings. Aspects of her Jamaican heritage continue to filter into the work, informing its energy, symbolism and visual language.