I’m still riding high from a great opening @thelockerroomnyc with our amazing curator @cameronbarker.artworks and phenomenal artists! Blessed to be showing these new pieces and getting to spend the weekend with friends as we went from show to show. Miss you already NYC, see you soon:)
Some great shots from the talents of @annieflanagan (minus the young old Gregg at the end) that we took a month or so back.
I never realized it until recently, but after I moved away from photographing people in my work, I also stopped taking pictures of myself. I moved my body further and further away from depiction or an audience, and now it feels so separate from what I make as an artist that it’s almost like a rebirth — a body that can stand on its own, not as a product of my making. It’s something I was given, and something I can work with, but just for me.
As much as I’ve loved acting and performing in the past, I never felt grounded in the practice — and therefore, never fully grounded in my skin. I used to think it was something I should do more of, or at least not close the door on, but I don’t think that’s my path to venture.
Who knows though — I might get naked tonight and run on a stage somewhere. But if I do, it’ll have to be with a new mindset of ownership, not as an object to be given away.
“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.”
RYAN LEITNER
Introducing Ryan Leitner, another member of our 29th annual NDA cohort. He is an artist based in New Orleans whose work explores the fluidity of form through the body, its objects, and environments. Using alternative approaches to collage, his two-dimensional artwork examines figurative objects and their environments through photography, painting, digital media, and sculpture. Leitner is also deeply committed to creating visibility and forms of permanence for LGBTQ+ histories. Through public monument restoration and creation, he engages in archiving, writing, and memorializing queer narratives that might otherwise be forgotten.
Learn more about all of our NDA artists at the link in bio.
