This week, Carrie Scott interviews artist Richelle Rich.
What does Margaret Thatcher have to do with Mr. Whippy ice cream? And why does it matter to contemporary art?
Listen to this episode to find out.
Working from her vine-covered studio in Santa Monica, Richelle is finally looking back at the Isle of Wight—the small island where she grew up. Her current work explores systems of power through unexpected objects: ice cream, chalk cliffs, and folklore. She's investigating the urban legend that Margaret Thatcher invented soft-serve ice cream as an entry point to the intersection of personal and political history.
We talk about her decade traveling with an inflatable sex doll as her alter ego, creating a giant floral installation spelling "cunt" in the California desert, and why she prefers subversive ambiguity over overt political messaging—except when it comes to abortion rights.
But this goes beyond art. We get honest about motherhood and creative practice—making art from dirty nappies during postpartum depression, raising teenage boys who understand privilege without guilt, and feeling like a wild horse being broken in even with help and privilege.
We explore "escape velocity" from island culture, becoming more politically active in LA than she ever was in London, and how our generation of women is partnered with the first generation of men figuring out modern fatherhood with no roadmap.
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