Los Angeles–based artist Ricky Swallow makes work that lends permanence to the ephemeral and humble objects that keep us company in daily life. Swallow’s work in bronze is central to his practice, the result of a highly intimate relationship to material, both the everyday objects with which he often begins and the foundry-centered casting and refining procedures through which the works find their final form. As Swallow says, “Bronze is a kind of beautiful alchemical wizardry.” His bronze sculpture Chair with Rope (2018) just entered OCMA’s collection and is currently installed in the exhibition Ordinary Extraordinary.

Join Ricky Swallow in conversation with OCMA CEO and Director Heidi Zuckerman as they discuss the passage of time, immortality and mortality, poetry and translation.

OCMA’s Artist Talks are generously sponsored by Cheryl and Bruce Kiddoo.