My paintings depict people in spaces entirely created by people. These spaces and figures are presented in very simple opposing languages-pristine geometric shapes containing messy, thickly-painted characters. Meaning is created through these languages: Tiny, hapless figures stumble through a large, cold and indifferent world. These narratives are expressed through comi-tragic moments, an approach present in the work of many diverse modern artists, from Samuel Beckett to Charlie Chaplin. Mixing humor and melancholic nostalgia, my work looks back at the triumphs and failures of modernism with both sympathy and skepticism.” -Ryan Steadman

Ryan Steadman draws from personal narratives that express the prevalent themes of loss, empathy, failure, rebellion, displacement, and hope. His figures are derived from his imagination, memory, and his own image. A simple act or interaction with an abstracted city scene reveals both the security and the alienation of the urban experience.

Steadman’s figures and their environments are rendered in opposing visual languages—rough, thickly handled strokes of oil paint on top of precise multi-colored grids of luminous enamel heightens this paradox. Both light-hearted and melancholy, Steadman’s paintings challenge us with everyday open-ended occurrences while his ever-shifting painterly references open these paintings up to further investigation: both formally and morally.