My name is Ryan W. Ruehlen and I am 26 years old. I grew up in rural Kansas and spent much of my childhood learning to do things for myself, whether it was build a tree house from scavenged materials or learning an array of musical instruments. I received my BFA in studio painting from Fort Hays State University in 2007 and then moved to Chicago Illinois to pursue my artistic ambitions. For nearly three years I was the curator of Avram Eisen Gallery in Chicago as well as a resident exhibiting artist with Sapere Gallery. In 2010 I relocated to Boulder, Colorado to begin working on my MFA in studio art at the University of Colorado, where I am currently working in sculptural mixed media, installation and video, as well as teaching part time.
Dimensions: 2.5 ft wide X 4.5 ft long X 6.5 ft tall
Description:
I believe that existence flows in cycles, and that includes human civilization. We are constantly re-building ourselves physically, socially, spiritually, etc. Through this process comes ruin, loss and rebirth and it becomes hard to distinguish whether we are dying out as a civilization or just getting started. Either way, the cradle, or our search for origin and significance is never quenched and always veiled in a sort of magical narrative.
This viewing apparatus was built as a sculptural alter to house a short video piece I made previous to it. The video is of a miniature, “artificial” landscape using organic objects found in a forest in rural eastern Kansas. The video disguises the form as an alien landscape and beyond.
Part of my process has been the constant re-configuring of art objects/ideas. The work has changed between three forms, this being the final. Cosmic Home is both a memory of the domestic childhood home and the reverence for our larger place in the universe.
This piece was built after filming of “lunar cycle around foreign landscape” which used the found, and de-barked tree stump. This piece acts as both a reliquary for the sacred landscape within the tree and a container that conceals and domesticates the natural, enclosing it inside our social desire to control the environment.
Date: Wed, 10/20/2010
Medium: Mixed: Scavenged wood, dirt, stones, bird bath. Hand built ceramic objects, acrylic paint, gel mediums, colored lights.
Dimensions: 2 ft wide X 3 ft deep X 3.5 ft tall
Description:
My work relies heavily on re-fabricating mythology to fit contemporary perceptions. The worm is the quintessential “death-eater”, a gate keeper into the underworld. Its main role is to consume dead material and transform it back into the the larger life cycle. I built a sort of baptistery to equate this humble creature with the ability to save us from death.
