Richard Elms is a multidisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles whose work blends abstraction, rhythm, and the sensory memory of the ocean. Born in Barbados, he grew up immersed in the island’s vivid visual environment—white coral sand, the turquoise tranquil Caribbean waters on the west coast, versus the shifting power of the Atlantic on the east coast, and the saturated colors of tropical fruit and vegetation. This landscape and surfing shaped his visual language, as did comic books, which first pulled him into drawing and later into studies in illustration and graphic design at an art college in Barbados.
Elms’s professional path expanded unexpectedly when he moved to New York and began a long, ongoing career in the international fashion and film industries. Over more than three decades, he has worked runways in Paris, London, New York, and Milan, and appeared in major global campaigns, including CK One, Guess, FILA, Versace and , as well as more recent commercial work for Rothy’s, LensCrafters, Faherty, Banana Republic and Fair Harbor. His image has been portrayed with leading photographers such as Steven Meisel, Bruce Weber, and Ellen Von Unwerth to name a few, with extensive editorial features in publications including Vogue and GQ. This experience—immersed in lighting, composition, movement, and visual emotion—forms a foundational layer in his approach to painting.
Alongside his fashion career, Elms developed a studio practice centered on precision, geometry, and the translation of lived sensation into visual structure. His work ranges from ink-on-paper drawings inspired by the rhythm of music to mixed-media panels informed by surfing and oceanic motion. The contrast between the calm buoyancy of Caribbean water and the dynamic pulse of the Atlantic becomes a visual tension of stillness and movement in his compositions.
Elms latest exhibitions happened at Garel Fine Art in Manhattan Beach, participating in Juncture (2024) and Beauty Isn’t Skin Deep (2024), marking an expansion of his work into public gallery contexts. His practice continues to evolve through iterative sketching, experimentation with materials such as flash vinyl, and a commitment to creating perceptual experiences rooted in balance, motion, and the natural world.
Inspirations include artists like Bridget Riley, Ellsworth Kelly, Helen Lundberg to name a few.
