Rick Shaefer is a Connecticut-based artist and a two-time recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. He has received multiple grants and fellowship awards from the Connecticut Office of the Arts and studied at Duke University, U. Maryland in Wiesbaden, Germany and ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California. His work is held in public and private collections and has been discussed in publications including ARTnews. His exhibition Colossi is currently on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art Connecticut through November 15, 2026.
Working primarily in charcoal, graphite, and ink, Shaefer creates large-scale drawings centered on the natural world. Trees, flowers, animals, icebergs, and other forms become subjects for an intensive exploration of line, scale, texture, and weight. Rather than blending or smudging the medium, he constructs his images through individual marks that remain visible—gestural and almost calligraphic up close, yet resolving into remarkably dimensional images from a distance.
“I tend to always come back to the line work. I find what I respond to and admire in other artists’ work, past or present, is usually the integrity of the line – whether it’s a single stroke or a mass of scribble in the shadows. If the marks are put down with validity and assurance they will resonate and the piece will vibrate. False or uneasy notes stand out and unsettle and even demoralize. A confident fluidity of movement and gesture is what is consciously and unconsciously felt and appreciated by the viewer. At least that is how I respond to a work.”
At Peniel, 2016
