In working his way through the Louvre, The Vatican and other historic art museums, Richard MacDonald is particularly engaged by the ancient pieces and the fragments that remain of them. His eye trains not so much on the preservation or the privation of this artistry but on the beauty of the pieces, which have become art forms in and of themselves. “The spontaneous fracturing of elements communicates completely different messages than they might have in their totality,” he said. “I am looking at an ancient form and yet, as I see it, it’s very contemporary. This has made me curious—what an important element for an artist—and fascinated with these forms and shapes as they are.” As MacDonald has discovered in "Joy Fragment Study Red", a fallen sculpture can either shatter perspective or reveal the essence of an image.

In 2014 and 2015, Richard MacDonald focused intently on the minerals and pigments of his patina process - specifically on the color red. Shortly thereafter, the artist revealed his discoveries in a new exhibition entitled “Richard MacDonald: Red.” The exhibition, which highlights MacDonald's creative immersion into the hue, the emotion, and narrative of color, represents a profound new direction in the artist's work.