Former Stanford art professor Richard Randell, a nationally known artist, died of lung cancer at his Sonoma County home on May 25 at age 81. Randell was known for his large-scale contemporary sculptures and his instructional videos on African languages — among them “Kiswahili,” “Hausa,” “Shona” and “Bambara.”

After working as an acting assistant professor of art from 1968 to 1969, Randell joined the Stanford faculty in 1970. Randell’s media included bronze, wood, plastic and metal, and his work is displayed in museums and galleries across the country.

“He had a great sense of irony and the absurd,” said art history professor emerita Wanda Corn to the Stanford Report. “Students loved him for his talk and wisdom as well as his teaching of metal and woodworking.”

In 1992, he founded World of Languages, a nonprofit organization to help his work with linguists from Stanford, Yale University and UCLA in creating a video archive of songs and performance arts from Kenya and Tanzania. After Randell retired in the late 1990s, he created award-winning stop-motion animations and was granted two artist residence grants at the Emily Harvey Foundation in Venice.

Randell is survived by four children and his wife, Susan Harby. A memorial service is planned for the fall.

— Harini Jaganathan