Richard C. Elliott: Primal Op

Richard C. Elliott (1945-2008) was a nationally recognized mixed media artist who lived and worked in Ellensburg, Washington. Born in Portland, Oregon, Elliott received his BA degree from Central Washington University in Ellensburg in art and economics. During the 1970s, he made meticulous drawings of his friends and other subjects, weaving light and form together to capture a particular moment in time. By the early 1980s, however, he no longer felt that he could express what he wanted to about light and natural structure through drawing. He began to explore primary colors and light active materials, and by 1987, decided to focus on the safety reflector as his medium of choice.

During the 1990s and early 2000s, Elliott created a broad range of work that combined safety reflectors with two-dimensional geometric designs: site specific installations, reflectors mounted onto wood and canvas, and numerous public art commissions, including the Hallie Ford Museum of Art. He even experimented with neon in his ongoing exploration of light. During the last year of his life, he turned his attention to a series of computer-generated prints utilizing thousands of different colors and geometric designs.