​Ryan   Tannascoli / Selected  Artwork / Biography / Artist  Statement / Past  Exhibitions

Ryan Tannascoli - Artist Statement

​My approach to painting and drawing is to trick my brain into not seeing the object that I’m painting, but to see the flat colored shapes that make up the object. I'm interested in breaking down the shapes and colors like a puzzle, simplifying and exaggerating them until the shapes fit together to represent the scene.
 
When looking at a storefront it’s clear what’s behind the glass and what’s a reflection, but when looking at a flat image of a storefront it’s not always clear what’s what. Often I wasn’t sure what I was painting. Is that a mannequin’s shoulder, a reflection of a building or a piece of a palm tree? But if I just paint the shapes that I see, when I stand back the painting makes sense.