Artist Statement
My artwork resists fixed definitions in form, medium, and identity. By collaging object making, studio photography, painting, and digital media, I create abstract figurations that reflect a sense of nomadism rooted in my own upbringing. These figures exist in flux, untethered to specific places, mediums, or identities, inviting viewers to question the solidity of our perceived realities.
I am drawn to objects with the potential for transformation—temporary and discarded items like wrappers or torn rubber tires mixed with clay and putty. These materials, removed from their original contexts, become sites of transition and connection, sparking opportunities for new form. Using these things after their prescribed functions opens a space for constant change, mirroring what I believe as the fluidity of Queer existence. When making these pieces, time and space collapse in an ongoing sense of queer presence that defies conventional boundaries.
By reconstructing the edges and barriers of objects and spaces, I seek pathways in a process of painting in layers of pigment and medium, and photographing through layers of lenses. These distortions help me explore the intersections of body and object, photography and painting, and real versus fabricated.
For me, this practice is a byproduct of my active engagement with Queer histories and our public spaces. By restoring and creating monuments, developing archives, and memorializing queer narratives through plaques, publications, and parks, I honor the past while fostering spaces for connection and belonging in the present and a hopeful future.
Bio
Ryan Leitner is an artist and writer who currently lives in New Orleans. His art is centralized around the visualization of queerness through the body, its objects, its history, and space. His two dimensional collages explore figurative objects and their environments through photography, painting, digital media, and sculpture. Outside of the studio, Leitner concentrates on queer visibility in public spaces through restoring Queer public monuments, and exploring how Queer history is historicized. He received his M.F.A. From The Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, holds a B.F.A. From Regents American College of London, and was a participant at the Skowhegan School for Painting and Sculpture in 2023. He has spoken at New Orleans Museum of Art, was a resident at Joan Mitchell Foundation and is currently a collective member at Antenna Gallery.