One thing about Ricardo Cardenas-Eddy is that he creates with intention. Whether he’s working on a painting or sculpture, every piece begins with a reason and ends with a story. In a relatively short time, Ricardo has established himself on a national stage, with an audience that widely recognizes his work. Having been featured in many exhibitions, Ricardo has been involved with the Art Expo New York in NY, multiple showings at Art Santa Fe in NM, Art Palm Beach in FL, five different exhibitions around Miami during Art Week, and lastly an exhibition hosted by the tequila brand, Maestro Dobel, at the Delano South Beach Hotel. Throughout his vast success, the driving force behind it has always stayed the same: “No piece, whether a painting or a sculpture, is created without reason. Everything in each piece carries meaning, intention, and purpose.”
When it comes to the mediums used in his process, Ricardo’s preferences have roots in an unexpected place. His original background in civil engineering has had a profound influence on both the materials he chooses to work with and the way he approaches ideas. Primarily working with paint, wood, concrete, and metal, Ricardo explained that “Knowing these materials and understanding how they behave has allowed me to identify just how far I can push a piece.” He treats each as a collaborator with its own character. The weight of concrete, the grain of wood, and the tension of metal.
Ask Ricardo where his ideas come from, and his answer is immediate: “100% imagination.” But what fuels that imagination can be found in anything, from current events, global situations, personal moments, or the materials themselves. As he explains, “Any subject is an inspiration to me.
The difference lies in how I perceive it. How I visualize it and want to translate it into my own style so that others can see what I see.” This mindset allows for his process to be deeply organic. Ricardo works whenever inspiration strikes, day or night, and lets his mood and energy guide the direction of each piece. And if, halfway through, something new sparks his interest and the piece wants to become something else entirely, he follows it.
The first of these pieces, standing over four feet tall, is “The Drinking Horse – Brown”. This impressively sized sculpture represents a significant milestone in Ricardo’s artistic journey. Having previously explored horses across paintings and various planes, this was his first venture into a three-dimensional horse sculpture. Despite this new form, it carries the same visual language and essence he strives for, described as “unmistakably communicating that it was made by the same artist behind the other paintings already in the gallery.” For Ricardo, that consistency was a great measure of success, and he has been very satisfied with the completion of the wooden sculpture.
Of everything Ricardo has created, his painting “Cooling Off” holds a particularly significant and favorable place in his heart. When reflecting upon the piece, he even mentions that “without a doubt, this is one of my most cherished paintings.” Feeling deeply connected to and proud of this painting, he attributes much of his fondness to “The expressions in the gazes of both the horse and the caretaker”, stating that “the colors and the strokes feel true to me”. Look closely, and somewhere within the piece is a hidden “45”. A tribute, Ricardo said, to celebrating his 45th birthday as he was creating this piece. In his own words, “Cooling Off is simply one of my most beloved paintings, created during a date that holds deep personal significance for me.”
While he uses various materials, and of all the subjects Ricardo returns to, no theme has been more constant than horses. These animals were woven into his childhood, and the bond never left him. But his connection to them goes beyond personal ties. “Horses share a 100% connection with the evolution of humanity,” Ricardo says. “A horse always draws you in and always evokes something truly powerful.” His current body of work brings that relationship into focus, exploring the impact horses have had, and continue to have, on human life. Two pieces in particular stand as some of the clearest expressions of that focus and represent Ricardo as an artist.
Beyond having a relationship and connection to his own art, Ricardo deeply wishes to share those same feelings with collectors. At an exhibition in Miami, he watched people encounter his work and recognized it immediately as his. They had resonated with Ricardo’s style and messaging in the past, and thus were able to easily identify and relate to his most recent collection. “From that moment on,” Ricardo explains, “I have been chasing exactly that reaction.” What he wants is not admiration from a distance, but a genuine connection. For Ricardo, art is not just decoration; it is communication, and he has spent his career making sure that message travels all the way from his hands into the homes and lives of the people who collect his work.
Continuing to understand who Ricardo is, when asked what flavor of ice cream he would be, the answer was, “Tequila. It is my favorite drink, and it has accompanied me through so many moments in life. Toasting through the hard times, celebrating achievements, and marking everything worth celebrating.” It is the kind of answer that tells you something true about the artist. For him, nothing exists in isolation, and his life and his work are all tied together.
Explore more of Ricardo Cardenas-Eddy’s artwork online at equineinstincts.com or in person at our pop-up gallery at the World Equestrian Center Ocala, inside Indoor Arena 2.
For life-long equestrian Susan McClafferty, photographing horses isn’t just a job. It’s the intersection of everything she loves and is most passionate about. During the week, Susan works as a consultant, bringing innovation, problem-solving, and technical expertise to a large healthcare system.
2026 is off to a full gallop at Equine Instincts. January has been an exciting and incredibly busy start to the Florida season.
Piaffe, an 8-foot bronze sculpture by Equine Instincts co-founder and artist Tammy Tappan, is now permanently installed at the entrance roundabout of Highpointe Ranch
