Matthew Ritchie is trying to describe the universe as if he could see everything, all at once. Ritchie's ambitious project celebrates the countless connections to be found in our seemingly chaotic universe through a tale told in fragments. Using a visual language of his own making, he deplays a cast of characters drawn from such diverse sources as mythology, quantum physics, alchemy, gambling, biblical stories, pulp fiction, and cartoons. Collectively they describe both the known and the hidden structure of the universe as elements in a gigantic game. Matthew Ritchie uses color, directional forces, shape and Iconography so the viewer can understand or try to understand the meaning behind his paintings. .
Matthew Ritchie was born in London, England in 1964. He now lives and works in New York City. "Five of a Kind" is graphite and ink on Denril. Color is one of the major elements of artwork that Ritchie uses in his paintings. There are three major colors that are used in this particular artwork; green, blue, and brown. Each color is acquainted with a certain meaning. For example, green is a secondary hue, and in the artwork it has the meaning of life; blue is a primary hue, and its meaning is peace and tranquility; and finally, brown is a shade of red that has black added to it and its meaning is death. The three colors are all earthy tones that resemble some activity that happens here or has an emotion that goes along with it. In the artwork there is a clothed human figure to the far left side that is covered in a green jacket or cloth, the human is standing which gives the impression that it is alive. There is also green grass that is surrounding the human and a tall, three-headed mythical monster. The grass around the monster is a symbol of the very thin line that divides life and death because the grass stops immediately. Blue means peace and tranquility because there is a calm stream that is running the length of the artwork and there are also clouds with bright blue light shinning through them.
