Study for Dance the Dream, Half Life, Platinum conveys a sense of eternal spring. This young dancer has already acquired the polish and refinement of a professional ballerina, yet she retains the tenderness of youth. The joyous spontaneity of her instinctive love of dance is clear, but overlaid with an elegance of movement that hints at the ballerina she will soon become. Contrasting with the more child-like exuberance of her younger sister, depicted in “Red Dress”, this young dancer has tempered her innocent freedom of movement with the classical discipline and art of ballet. Richard MacDonald has captured the subtleties of this pivotal moment in the dancer’s life: through his vision we feel the child-like spirit, and the emerging ballerina. It is the moment where nature blossoms into art.

Warm, silvery, and rare, the platinum patina of this distinctive series by Richard MacDonald creates a play of light that heightens our sense of the underlying sculpted form.  Contemporary in conception and limited to editions of only eight, with some works featured as one-of-a-kind, this body of work reveals the essential beauty of the human form.  As mercurial as human nature itself, light glances off the platinum creating dramatic shadows that seem to strengthen form and enhance the sense of life captured by the artist.