Last week we celebrated our premier opening exhibition at the Plumbing Museum. Below is a short Q & A with our first Artist-in-Residence Ryan Leitner following the show.
What inspires you?
History. I find that if I find an event or time in history interesting, then there is a reason for it to be brought up today. I like to imagine the type of work I would be creating if I were at the turn of the twentieth century.
What is your medium of choice?
Since I’m an installation artist, I choose a lot of mediums, and it really depends on what stage I’m at in a project. I usually move between some kind of metal or wood sculptures, moving image, and painting. Right now I’m really into fabrics and paints.
What is the most important theme that your work revolves around?
The most important theme in my work is searching. I’m constantly looking for new ways of seeing, but I typically do it through readily known places and things. For instance my video work uses the places and locations I’m in all the time but they’re shrunken down to a miniature size to see the space from a new perspective. I like to say I don’t look outside the box, but instead try to look deeper within it.
What is the concept behind the work made during your residency?
The three months I’ve spent at the residency have showed me some interesting sides to the structure and systems within buildings as well as the materials that are used to make them. This project revolves around the precision of construction for the abstraction of the human condition. These systems are made to work around us and for us, which can create a system that is always in flux.
How was your Manoog Family Artist Residency experience?
Excellent. It was great to have a large studio, tools, and materials all for my picking. I can’t talk highly enough about this program, and I’m quite honored to be the first artist to be a part of it. Also, having the ability to actually create an installation in a museum isn’t too bad either.
