Pacific Northwest native Kenneth Ragsdale is an Albany, NY based artist. His work, derived from personal memories; is process driven, focused on narrative, and involves a mixture of many artistic disciplines: drawing, painting, sculpture, paper-craft, theatre lighting, and photography.
His recent work deals specifically with his own childhood narrative and it's metaphorical relationship with that of the growth of America as a nation.
"I associate reality with transience, and to the building up of memories, rather than with the concreteness of my present existence.
What I think I remember is in a constant state of flux, the organization and arrangement of particulars controlled and altered by every new experience, to the point where even the mundane can be reformed into the epic.
All of my work is made with the intention to examine what remains of the actual, reveal the process of alteration, and explore the possibilities of the fantastic.
Every remembrance is a reinvention, and reality is not fixed, but in process."
Though normally concerned with finding new and innovative ways of manufacturing a 2-dimensional image, Kenneth has recently altered the scope of his work to encompass the aspects of installation, human scale interaction, and collaborative curatorial projects.
He is currently working in collaboration with associate professor Michael Oatman from the RPI School of Architecture on a multi-discipline project, which will pay homage to 'The Armory Show' of 1913 and to the history of its effect on the artistic life of the Capital Region.
He has exhibited in many galleries, museums and arts venues, including: Cypriana Majernika Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia, The High Line, New York, NY, Siena College, Loudonville, NY, Albany International Airport, Albany, NY, Amrose Sable Gallery, Albany, NY, Johnson Memorial Art Gallery, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy, NY, Sicyon Gallery, Walla Walla, WA, Rochester Contemporary Arts Center, Rochester, NY, Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR, Rockingham Arts & Museum Project, Bellows Falls, VT, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR, and Del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
Courses: Advanced Drawing (Arts 4200) and Basic Drawing (Arts 1200)