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Photos from a 'Nomadic Thinker' from Bethel

February 15th 2:51 pm | Trina Landlord Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

Ryan Romer is the featured artist for the month of February at the Alaska Native Arts Foundation in downtown Anchorage. His highly compelling contemporary artwork evokes a timeless illusion of depth and subtle rhythmic movement. Romer has an intuitive approach to creating art in a contemporary abstract style. In his opening exhibit, "Out West, an Insiders Perspective," he uses paintings and photography as a means of self-expression and makes pictures to identify with hidden qualities of his character drawing from his Alaska Native roots. He is of Yup'ik Eskimo and Athabascan ancestry from Bethel, currently living in Anchorage.

"I like using the term 'nomadic thinker' to give insight to creative paths that I'm currently using. It means keeping a new perspective each time I create something. Using the thought process of 'on the go' keeps a fresh awareness with every composition I produce," Romer said.

He is a multi-talented artist who works in a variety of mediums, including: print-making, painting, photography and ceramics. Romer received a bachelor's degree in printmaking from the University of Alaska Anchorage in 2008. His distinct style, vision and precise attention to detail and craft are clearly evident in his work.

"My outlook towards creating an art piece allows me to connect many aspects of creativity with colors and shapes, life situations, everyday moments and feelings which evoke a profound sensibility of native art form with a contemporary look," Romer said.

He believes that nature offers infinity of views and moods, changing light and great paintings and photographs are waiting to be found everywhere, every day. But they are almost never to be found easily. It takes the vision of an artist, along with the tenacity of a hunter, to find great photographs in nature. The opening exhibit at the arts foundation is one of a three-part series. He captures images predominantly from Western Alaska, for example, one titled; "Cut and Dry" is a photo of a barber chair under a fish rack.

Even in the hands of a master, he says, a camera alone will never capture the subjects as we can observe it with all of our senses. His goal is to illustrate the rich experiences he has in this multi-dimensional world as best as he can within the limits of this two-dimensional medium. Although he doesn't add or remove anything significant from his images, there is never an absolute definition of what he sees in the image. He believes a great photograph is not merely documenting the scene at hand, rather it is about fusing the essential vision of the artist with the landscape.

Currently, his work is featured in the "Rarefied Light," the largest annual juried photo exhibition sponsored by the Alaska Photographic Center. It showcases the best of Alaska's fine art photography. The show, which opened in Anchorage, will travel to Fairbanks, Kenai and Kodiak before ending in Juneau.

Trina Landlord is a writer for the Alaska Native Arts Foundation. She can be reached at trina@alaskanativearts.org.

 


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