Richard Farrell is a painter, writer, digital artist, and draftsman based in Boston, Massachusetts. His work is informed by scholars of comparative mythology and contemporary culture, as well
as his own upbringing in a Catholic household. Richard utilizes and subverts his background in children’s book illustration to create work that implies surreptitious or incomplete narratives. In
his figurative paintings and drawings, Richard explores relationships between religion and childhood, ego and futility, humor and horror, and the supernatural and the mundane. Richard received his Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts in 2025.
Artist statement
Contemporary society fixates on the idea of a catastrophic apocalypse, a whirlwind of fire
that will quickly and messily stamp out all of existence. However, this definition overlooks a
more nuanced interpretation of the term, one that positions humans as active participants in the
event. The word “apocalypse” originates from the Greek apokalýptein, meaning “to uncover.”
My practice of drawing, painting, and writing reflects this interpretation, exploring the
apocalypse as the revelation of a more subtle systemic disintegration and transformation of our
world.
I am a product of the suburbs, a setting often perceived as spiritually barren. Yet, within
this environment, I see an emergent and tangible form of American spirituality, one rooted in
outdated mythological notions of exclusivity, the American Dream, masculinity, and heroism.
These concepts—and the political effects they perpetuate—are deeply entrenched in apocalyptic
fears.
My multimedia practice encapsulates informal, mindless ephemera, doodles, poetry,
illustrative art, vignettes, humor, ancient cross-cultural mythologies, internet culture, and
political discourse. The esotericism, ambivalence, and ambiguity of the subject matter mirror the
discordance of suburban mythology and the desperation to imbue everyday or unimportant
subjects with spiritual significance. Like the more nuanced, insidious interpretation of our
apocalypse, a multitude of narratives are uncovered simultaneously, left unresolved and uneasy.
Instagram: @rfarrell_art
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