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Paul Rickards

American

Paul Rickards is a generative artist who uses 1980s pen plotters to create algorithmic drawings in archival ink. He writes custom Python code to drive each machine, selecting the plotter, pen, and paper based on the visual texture and feel he hopes to achieve.

Paul Rickards. Photo courtesy the artist

Full Bio

Paul Rickards is a generative artist who creates algorithmic drawings using vintage pen plotters and modern tools. Working in Python, he writes custom code to operate vintage pen plotters, machines from the 1980s that he repurposes to create physical works of art in archival ink. Each plot carries the trace of mechanical variation: minute pen skips, shifts in line, subtle changes in ink flow that give the drawings a kind of quiet irregularity. Rickards owns more than twenty plotters and selects each one based on the outcome he wishes to achieve. His approach is grounded in an intimate knowledge of the machines he uses, many of which he has repaired or restored, and in a fascination with the slow, deliberate movement of the pen as it draws.

His projects range from the CMY Circle Growth and Generative Mountain Sunset series to floppy disk drawings, plotted schematics, and algorithmic portraits of figures like Alan Turing and Harvey Milk. Some works are drawn directly onto salvaged media, including 5.25-inch floppies and replica C64 motherboards, reflecting his interest in the afterlife of obsolete technology. Rickards has exhibited at the Vintage Computing Festival East, in a long-running installation at Kennett Classic in Pennsylvania, and in solo shows at The Mill Space and Bantam Tools.

Artist Collection

PLOT 20200125220025 Paul Rickards 2020 Plotter Drawing

20210815201354 Paul Rickards 2021 Plotter Drawing

PLOT 20210902204731 Paul Rickards 2021 Plotter Drawing

20240603141753 Paul Rickards 2023 Plotter Drawing

Rulemart Paul Rickards 2024 Plotter Drawing

PLOT 20240122090830 Paul Rickards 2024 Plotter Drawing

Set of 3 Generative Plotter Drawings Paul Rickards 2024 Plotter Drawing