About

Ryan Eckert

artist from Belleville, Illinois

currently living in Sioux Center, Iowa

MFA- Arizona State University 2020

MA-Eastern Illinois University 2017

BFA-Eastern Illinois University 2015

Artist Statement

Ryan Eckert’s structural abstractions explore ideas about the state of splitting worldviews, depicted through the lens of biblical Christianity. Eckert’s work presents the clashing of ideals to the point of hostility through the means of deconstructing nonrepresentational forms, lines, and structures. The internal process of coping with the outrage within modern culture is displayed within each canvas. Each layer of his canvas’s reacts to the next, a process which leaves the works both chaotic and restful in moments, becoming a parallel to navigating the living world. His surfaces range in complexity, allowing mark making to be heavily thinned and layered, or bold and instantaneous. Paint, markers, and paper are used purposefully throughout the paintings. Each medium is necessary to and inseparable from its surface, which creates the dynamic, yet playful tension that is explored through the vast ethereal voids of his canvas’s. 

Ryan Eckert received his BFA and MA at Eastern Illinois University in 2015 and 2017 respectively. He then went on for an MFA at Arizona State University in 2020. He is currently a Professor at Dordt University. 

Instagram: ryan_paintings

Contact @ ryaneckertart@gmail.com