In City Margins, Riches’ paintings serve as intimate moments of stillness captured in the midst of transition, a preservation of liminal spaces and the eerie fringes at the edge of town in states of flux; the fading cusp of night, the hopeful precipice of dawn. 

Ever intrigued by the interplay of light on land, Riches’ paintings capture the fleeting hues and patterns that transform even seconds after experiencing them, palettes shifting with the sun’s gradient arc as shadows stretch, deepen, and engulf. 

As we pass the outer skirts of an undefined suburbia, the dwindling urban landmarks are no longer monumental nor oppressive. Instead our gaze is directed to the atmosphere, where expansive skies become the dominant presence and traces of urban life emerge sparingly—a roofline, a telegraph pole, a solitary window–an anchor for us under the immensity of the heavens.