Richard Coan

Is making a way of understanding?

I’ve been making things for many years – photographs, films, drawings, collages, songs, poems and participatory work.

More recently, I’ve begun to wonder whether these different ways of making might form an artistic practice.

I follow what catches my attention. There seem to be connections between the different things I’ve made over the years, and I’m exploring what those connections might mean. Perhaps they are simply different expressions of the way I experience the world.

I don’t fully know why I make, what to call it, or where it leads. I only know that its a way of processing, and through making, noticing and capturing, I can feel more present and connected to both the physical and spiritual sides of life.

Maybe it’s just a way of being. I don’t know yet. That’s what I’m interested in finding out.

Places, People & Residencies

Some of the things I’ve made have grown from spending intentional time in particular places, with particular people or around particular questions.

I’ve started using the word residency to describe some of these periods of exploration. Sometimes I called them something else at the time; looking back, the idea of a residency seems to best describe what I was doing, creating time and space to be somewhere, pay attention, make and see what happens.

Sometimes that happens in a place. Sometimes it happens with people, and I don’t see it as a set format. I’m interested in what happens when we create a little space to pay attention, make and explore.

Field Notes

Some discoveries become photographs, sketches, words, sounds or ideas shared through publication or performance. Others I simply gather as ‘Field Notes’ (because I can’t think of a better name), to share, remember and return to.