“Lairs”: Drawings and Paintings by Ryan Browning, after 3 weeks on display in Rice Gallery, the upper level of Peterson Hall, has just closed.
Ryan Browning’s work is both thought provoking and stunning to behold, and should not be missed. In his oil paintings, Browning uses a wide variety of bold colors and rendering skills to create spaces which he fills with abstract forms and shapes. The spaces he creates strongly resemble what one might think of as a fantasy or virtual landscape, and within them his abstract forms come to life.
The young artist, currently living in Mount Airy, is a painter and interdisciplinary artist who had his artwork shown both nationally and internationally since the showing opened on January 24.
Surprisingly enough, Browning’s major inspiration comes from a subject many McDaniel students can strongly relate to: video games. Browning spoke about how video games have been a big part of his life over the years and how he was especially influenced by the popular multiplayer games Dungeons and Dragons and Everquest.
When creating a work, Browning says he thinks of the process as “interactive,” making choices similar to ones he imagines he would if he were actually playing a game, “exploring the context of my imagery and its visual possibilities … Through a free process of adding and removing objects, spaces, and visual elements.” Browning also mentioned how landscape art, as well as the concepts of everything being in motion or in flux influences his work.
Here at McDaniel, many students take part in video games such as Skyrim, Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, and Portal and should be able to appreciate the visuals and elements that go into making gameplay interesting and fun. Video game visuals are nothing less than a form of art. The “Lairs”: Drawings and Paintings exhibit brings these ideas together, and is definitely something worth seeing.
