Ryan Grossman “Liminal Tide” Exhibition

Climate change, particularly rising sea levels, is going to usher us into a completely new era. Like a collective deer in headlights we exist in this in-between state of belief/disbelief, action/inaction, confidence/fear. These pieces are a reflection on that state often showing what’s on the other side of this threshold. It also relates to the world as a whole, which of course has been going through environmental changes for millennia. It also relates to myself as an artist. I vacillate between trying to depict the visual world and trying to interpret the internal one and even between the world of being a painter and not. These are all ambiguous states that feel like floating but are actually part of the path, thus the Liminal Tide.

I use painting as a means of commentary or reflection by creating a moment or narrative that hopefully taps into human emotion and the experiences we share unconsciously. After getting my degree from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, I began to reflect on the landscape I grew up in, the Pacific Northwest and the quiet melancholy of the seascape. My work does often go beyond the emotional and interpersonal into more surreal and symbolic territory as well. Reflecting my curiosity of the unknown and the other. While my style is mostly realistic, I am often trying to achieve the believable through a more abstract approach to mark making.

Second Saturday Gallery Reception: October 12, 5 pm – 8 pm
The Mendocino Art Center hosts a free Second Saturday Artists Reception each month. Enjoy snacks and wine, and meet the exhibiting artists.