Ryan Kohler

I am a painter in Skowhegan, ME where I live with my wife, Australian Shepherds, studio cats and a handful of chickens.  I paint every day in my home studio, usually while stumbling over the Aussies at my heels. I received a BA in Art from the University of Maine at Augusta in 2011, with a concentration in drawing.  I was briefly enrolled in the new Media program at Orono and the Architecture program at Augusta before I realized I was most comfortable getting messy in my art classes and ultimately made the switch to the fine art program.

My subject matter can range pretty greatly, but it’s usually color and shape that attract me to a scene.  My compositions are usually arranged in the most dynamic way possible, with dominant foregrounds and strong leading lines.  I work from photographs mostly, but occasionally paint from life in the field.

Representational painting is still the root of what I’m trying to achieve, but to me, the fun lies in trying to find ways to describe my subjects through expressive gesture and varied mark making.  Recently, mixed media and collage has become a significant element to my work.  Bits of colored paper, maps, album covers, posters, and found materials are collaged to the surface of my paintings, adding an extra physical presence to my work and enriching the viewing experience.  Collaging has become an important process for me, forcing me to think abstractly and slowing me down a bit more than the painting process would, which yields to more interesting and thoughtful decisions. I sometimes describe it as like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, but I get to make my own pieces, and they don’t have to exactly fit.  Charmingly incorrect is the result that I typically shoot for, rather than literal and precise. There comes a point where too much detail and obvious overstatement becomes detrimental to the power of a painting.  Letting edges blur and being ambiguous with brushwork usually leads to more interesting results.  This is something I am constantly thinking about while painting and I try to walk away from them when they are at an evocative and unpredictable state.

Ryan Kohler ‘Strum’ Mixed Media on Canvas 36” x 24” $2375

Ryan Kohler ‘Echo’ Mixed Media on Canvas 20” x 10” $1265

Ryan Kohler ‘Spill’ Mixed Media on Canvas 20” x 10” $1265

Ryan Kohler ‘Whisper’ Mixed Media on Canvas 20” x 10” $1265

Ryan Kohler ‘Buddied’ Mixed Media on Canvas 20” x 20” $1745

Ryan Kohler ‘Hover’ Mixed Media on Canvas 20” x 10” $1265

Ryan Kohler ‘Peacefully’ Mixed Media on Canvas 9” x 12” $910

Ryan Kohler ‘Duck, Duck’ Mixed Media on Canvas 16” x 20” SOLD

Ryan Kohler ‘Roundabout’ Mixed Media on Canvas 10” x 20” SOLD