Oct 2008
Artist Profile: Ryan Goodwin
In the fall of 1994 I was a freshman at the University of Northern Iowa and already a declared art major. During that first week, a classmate told me that he was forming an art history study group and that they would meet for introductions that evening after drawing class. It was that evening when I first met the painter Ryan Goodwin (below).
Fourteen years have passed since then, leaving me with the unique observational view on Ryan's work as it has evolved from humorous "Heads On Sticks" and globular, floating shapes, to a more mature, detailed "Fracture" series.
In the years that I have been involved with painting, there is no one else that I have known that has been as prolific as Ryan. While producing several paintings per year, he has continued to experiment with mediums and ideas, while developing detailed craftsmanship.
The results of his work are complex structures shadowed for depth; non-objective shapes that give viewers the illusion of something tangible in the real world. It is not surprising that people have picked out circles and squares, thinking that it was a road, house, or, perhaps, a wolf in the background. The images reverberate with movement and are not static or flat.
The colors are specifically chosen and not accidental. When Ryan paints, he uses a clean sheet of glass and mixes the exact colors into separate, neat sections. Therefore, for each painting he is using a limited color pallet that compliment and contrast, but are not necessarily expected.
Almost all of his paintings are created with oils on canvas, and are done, usually, in one sitting. Depending on the size of a canvas, Ryan may paint for a few hours straight or for an entire day, in order to complete the idea in his mind.
While the "Fracture" series has given Ryan a lot of room to experiment with shape and color, not all of his projects have been so serious. The last few years he has been designing kites in Chicago, where he has resided since 1999. His other spare moments have been filled with collaborations with other artists, making silly Ninja movies, comic strips, and any other odd, funny project that hatches in his imagination. In fact, some of these I can’t mention here because they are in public places under anonymous names.
With that aside, much of his work can be viewed online at www.goodwingallery.com.
Fourteen years have passed since then, leaving me with the unique observational view on Ryan's work as it has evolved from humorous "Heads On Sticks" and globular, floating shapes, to a more mature, detailed "Fracture" series.
In the years that I have been involved with painting, there is no one else that I have known that has been as prolific as Ryan. While producing several paintings per year, he has continued to experiment with mediums and ideas, while developing detailed craftsmanship.
The results of his work are complex structures shadowed for depth; non-objective shapes that give viewers the illusion of something tangible in the real world. It is not surprising that people have picked out circles and squares, thinking that it was a road, house, or, perhaps, a wolf in the background. The images reverberate with movement and are not static or flat.
The colors are specifically chosen and not accidental. When Ryan paints, he uses a clean sheet of glass and mixes the exact colors into separate, neat sections. Therefore, for each painting he is using a limited color pallet that compliment and contrast, but are not necessarily expected.
Almost all of his paintings are created with oils on canvas, and are done, usually, in one sitting. Depending on the size of a canvas, Ryan may paint for a few hours straight or for an entire day, in order to complete the idea in his mind.
While the "Fracture" series has given Ryan a lot of room to experiment with shape and color, not all of his projects have been so serious. The last few years he has been designing kites in Chicago, where he has resided since 1999. His other spare moments have been filled with collaborations with other artists, making silly Ninja movies, comic strips, and any other odd, funny project that hatches in his imagination. In fact, some of these I can’t mention here because they are in public places under anonymous names.
With that aside, much of his work can be viewed online at www.goodwingallery.com.