Biography
Ryan Hoover (b. 1981) is an award-winning photographer, designer, video artist, electronic musician and guitarist. He has exhibited and performed nationally and internationally, including in Spain, Germany, Japan, Italy and South Africa. Ryan earned his BFA (summa cum laude) in Painting, Drawing & Photography from the University of Michigan, School of Art & Design in 2004 and his MFA degree in Electronic Integrated Arts / Expanded Media from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, School of Art & Design in 2013.
Originally from the state of Michigan, Ryan has worked, studied and traveled extensively throughout many different parts of the world, including living for one year in South Africa and over five years in Japan. His work experience includes television post-production; teaching Cinema & Video Art at the University of Tennessee School of Art + Architecture; teaching Black & White Film Photography at Alfred University, School of Art & Design; and working as a documentary photographer for the University of Michigan Center for Southeast Asian Studies.
He currently lives in Edmonds, Washington, where he continues to do photography, video production, and web and graphic design work on a freelance basis as the owner of RC Photo & Design, LLC, and also gives musical performances on solo classical and flamenco guitar and as a DJ. His MFA thesis book, “Past / Perception” was published in 2013, and is available for purchase or loan at the Alfred University Library in Alfred, New York.
Artist Statement
As an interdisciplinary artist, my creative practice involves working with a number of traditional and emerging mediums, processes, and technologies. These include photography, video, sound, mixed media, 2D digital imaging, design, and interactive installation. I'm interested in exploring physiological processes of image and sound perception, including transitional moments between representation and non-representation, the recognizable and unrecognizable, the intelligible and unintelligible, and potential ambiguities at the boundaries of time-based and non-time-based mediums.
Recent projects have included attempts to translate concepts related to the ephemeral phenomenon of sound into visual or physical manifestations; implementations of interactivity through both sensor and non-sensor based processes; manipulating digitized VHS still images with traditional photographic means; and several other single or multi-channel video, sound, and image compositions.
In producing new work, I hope to synthesize potentially unpredictable forms and content through a symbiotic balance of methodical, critical analysis of a subject or idea with more organic, intuitive, aleatoric, or improvisational modes of working. Along these lines, I’m particularly influenced by Brian Eno’s notion of “Control vs. Surrender”, and how seemingly opposing compositional strategies and approaches relates to the art or music making process in general.
Other artistic influences include the work of video and experimental film artists Paul Sharits, Stan Brakhage, Peter Kubelka, and Paul Pfeiffer; photographers Hiroshi Sugimoto, Simon Larbalestier, Miguel Rio Branco, and David Hockney; media theorists Vilem Flusser, Kate Mondloch, and Victor Burgin; and the writings and musical compositions of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Steve Reich, and Peter Gabriel. Additionally, my work tends to absorb influences from several other fields of interest such as physics, linguistics, biomimetics, ethnomusicology, world cinema, and various historical inquiries.
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Please contact Ryan at ryan.hoover@gmail.com to inquire about prints, commissions, or other general questions.
External links:
All artwork, images, recordings, and other material is copyright Ryan C. Hoover. Do not use, reproduce, or re-post without expressed written consent.