Born in 1977, in Brunswick, Georgia, Richards was raised in rural Southeast Virginia. He attended UNC-Wilmington, where he earned a BA in Art in 1999. In 2003, he enrolled in SUNY Empire State College as a non-matriculated graduate student. Richards left NYC in the spring of 2006, returning to North Carolina to pursue art full time. He has been included in numerous exhibitions throughout the Southeast, including the North Carolina Museum of Art, The Greenhill Center of NC Art, and CAM-Raleigh.

In fall of 2020, Richards Re-located to Hamburg, Germany. His wife, Dr. Amanda M. Maples, is a Curator of African Art and accepted a temporary 2-year position enabling them to experience living in Europe. They returned to Raleigh, NC in Fall of 2021. In Summer 2023, they relocated to New Orleans, LA, where she accepted a position at the New Orleans Museum of Art, and he currently holds studio.