Artist Statement
As a collage artist, my artistic practice as a conduit between the figure, the space it creates, and the actions/reactions between the two. Most of my creative inquiry is directed toward the visualization of queerness in environments where the body is the maker of its space. With each project I am on a constant look for new points of view on how queer visibility can be seen and affect their environments. Formally, my art is seen as an interdisciplinary synthesis of painting, photography, sculpture, and virtual media that take the form of two dimensional collages. I use a collaboration of techniques, incorporating sculptures and installations, painting, studio photography, and mixing these elements together through virtual manipulation, printing, and painting. These assemblages have multiple layers that are pulled together and manipulated in an attempt to create a narrative of how a figure can be read or presented.
Bio
Ryan Leitner is a collage artist, with an artistic inquiry towards the visualization of queerness through the body, history, and space. His two dimensional pieces on canvas create other worldly body-scapes and atmospheres that are molded and stacked together through his process of painting, sculpture, photography, digital manipulation, and alternative printmaking. Since receiving his MFA from The Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Leitner studied at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, has received grants and fellowships from the The LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana, Antenna’s Platform Fund, and The Museum of Fine Arts, and has exhibited at The Plumbing Museum, Area Gallery, and Magnum Photo Foundation, and The Front Gallery, and Antenna Works.