Justin Richel

About the Create! Magazine 10th Anniversary Book: Create! Magazine is honored to celebrate a decade of contemporary art by publishing a look back at previously selected artists: their achievements, career growth, and more since being published. Stay tuned for the book launch in fall 2026, and join our newsletter to stay up to date.

Justin Richel, featured in both Create! Magazine and the Create! Magazine 10th Anniversary Book, is an artist working in the combined practice of painting and sculpture, with an interest in trickster mythologies, simulacra, and perception. Richel received a BFA in printmaking from the Maine College of Art and Design and later studied the technique of icon painting at the Franciscan Monastery in Kennebunk, Maine.

Justin has an extensive knowledge of building and materials, having worked in various construction trades, including restoring Victorian homes, carpentry, and woodworking. Justin moved to New Mexico in 2016 and has since worked closely with fellow artists to help facilitate their projects through all stages of concept, design, and execution, building substrates and problem solving.

Richel has been featured in Two Coats of Paint, Sculpture Magazine, Create! Magazine, Edible (New Mexico), Southwest Contemporary, Kolaj, and Alta Journal. He has been awarded residencies at the Fine Arts Work Center, Monhegan Artist Residency, Kohler Arts & Industry, RAIR, Aletheia House, and Tamarind Institute.

His work is held in the collections of the Portland Museum of Art, the John Michael Kohler Art Center, Kohler Co., and Fidelity Investments. He has exhibited widely at numerous museums and art centers, including the Wadsworth Atheneum, DeCordova Sculpture Park & Museum, Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Fitchburg Art Museum, and Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA&D.


https://justinrichel.com/