Series I - Five Women
This is the first series of paintings that Richard presented the public. He highlighted them during his 2019 New York Theater Festival production of Five Women (the first play Richard authored). The works were featured as paintings created by one of the play’s characters, Lauren, a street artist in New York City. According to the plot, Lauren is estranged from her mother, who refuses to accept Lauren’s dream of wanting to become a successful artist. Lauren, however, remains resolute and refuses to pursue a career more in line with her mother’s wishes—i.e., one that is more “respectable” and “worthwhile.”