Richard Rhodes

As a Seattle-based sculptor, stonemason, and entrepreneur, Richard Rhodes is quite literally hands-on in his work. Rhodes takes pride in the value of the tactile in his pieces—especially in today’s digital world.

His California upbringing might lead you to believe he’s laid-back, but Rhodes embraces the intensity and focus of working with stone. Primarily working in granite or high-density limestone, his work is deeply textural, relying primarily on the expressive hand finishes wrought with the hammer and chisel. He credits his time in Italy as a stonemason apprentice as a turning point that built the foundation of his sculptural practice.

Regardless of material, Rhodes examines the relationship between art, architecture, and the human experience. His work, often many times larger than human scale, explores mass with deceptively simple compositional gestures.

Rhodes is the founder of several businesses. This includes Seattle-based Rhodes Architectural Stone, known for the successful recycling of antique stone material from behind China’s Three Gorges Dam.