Ian Ross
Social Media
About the Artist
A prolific muralist, ceramicist, installation artist, and sculptor, Ian Ross is a bay area based interdisciplinary artist whose love of the natural world deeply influences his practice. Creative since he was a young child, Ross was raised in a family with three generations of artists. Born and raised in the Bay Area, he draws from his meditative, solitary experiences in Northern California’s forests and beaches to inform his signature approach to abstract imagery.
Ross’s background in ceramic sculpture comes through in his painting style. Similarly to the way he works with clay, he paints with gestural marks that respond to the medium’s tactile qualities. Whether working on a canvas, a wall, a beach, or a sculpture, Ross allows himself to get carried away in an intuitive creative process, channeling the calm he feels while communing with nature through organic shapes.
About the Work
"Snowflakes"
I have always been obsessed with the water. Swimming in lakes and rivers as a kid, surfing, and snowboarding in powder is like flying. I stand outside in the rain and listen to nature drinking. Water in the form of a snowflake represents a unique and beautiful structure, individual like myself and my process creating artwork. My brushstrokes are always applied with spontaneity, letting the work guide me, transferring energy, building in a freestyle manner without a plan. By working this way inside the structure of a snowflake, these gestures and shapes can become incredibly dense, fortified by the geometry. One can get lost in the pattern for a moment, the way I get lost gazing up Into the winter sky and catching ice sculptures on my tongue like a kid. Ideally my work can transport you to a dream state, similar to the flow state I achieve during my “hyperorganic” process.