Artist Statement
My current work focuses on kinetic sculpture, using mechanical systems and handmade structures to generate visual events. Rather than movement existing on its own, each work is built around what that movement can produce—a mark, an action, a transformation, or another visual result. The process and its outcome become one working sculpture.
I keep the functional elements exposed rather than hiding them behind a finished exterior. Wires, batteries, controllers, motors, and connections remain visible so the viewer can understand exactly how the work operates. Showing these components also makes the construction itself part of the sculpture, giving the work an "aesthetic of disclosure".
My process usually begins with a fascination over an object, material, movement, or functional possibility. I enjoy figuring out how to construct the right conditions for something unexpected or visually compelling to occur. This grew out of an earlier sculptural practice in which I worked across materials including plastic, cardboard, and everyday objects, before introducing motion and mechanics into the work.
Alongside my sculptures, I have maintained a painting practice influenced by artists including Joan Miró, Arshile Gorky, Julian Schnabel, Alice Neel, and Andrew Wyeth.
And really bad portraits, the worst in NYC.
Bio
Ricky Brown is an artist based in Brooklyn, New York, working across kinetic sculpture, painting, and drawing. He began his professional art practice as a caricature artist, developing his approach to portraiture through his project Really Bad Portraits. Over the past several years, his practice has expanded into sculpture, with a focus on constructing moving works from motors, electronics, wood, and everyday materials.
Brown’s kinetic sculptures expose the components that make them function as part of the visual character of the work. His broader practice is driven by an interest in objects, movement, construction, and the unexpected visual results that can emerge from functional systems.
Brown studied filmmaking at the New York Film Academy before pursuing visual art independently. His work as a portrait artist has been featured by the New York Post and FOX 5 New York.