McVetis uses a range of media, including drawing, installation, and textiles, to explore his perception of space and time.
His process is labour-intensive, using hand embroidery he records time through multiples of dots, lines, and crosses. Meticulously drawn and stitched, his work reflects a preoccupation with the repetitive nature of a process, exploring the subtle differences that emerge through ritualistic and habitual making, and the similarities between pen on paper and thread on fabric. He employs a limited vocabulary of mark-making and deliberately subdued colour to create a binary simplicity.
The mapping of space and marking time and form are central themes. McVetis explores the way time and place are felt, experienced, and constructed. Ideas are often developed in response to, or created specifically to a moment, visualising and making this a tactile and tangible object. The pieces created explore how objects, materials, and places, through the action of hands, bear witness to the passing of time, of the mundane and of the everyday.
Finalist of the 2018 Loewe Craft Prize, Richard’s artwork has been exhibited in galleries, art fairs, and museums across the world including Iceland, Ukraine, Pakistan, South Korea, UAE, and the USA. Richard has been a finalist for the Jerwood Drawing Prize in 2011 and 2016, a finalist for the Cheongju International Craft Prize in 2015 and was selected to be part of the British Pavilion, Form + Motion at the Cheongju International Craft Biennale in 2017.
McVetis, is a graduate of the Royal College of Art in 2008, he lives and works in London.
