AiR STUDIO GALLERY- Closely Observed
Creating & Curating Contemporary Art for the Community
Jack Ramsdell - Pieces from the Day I Die
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Jack Ramsdell In his own words
As a newly full-time artist, I can now make a little more sense of my past practice. I can see how quickly my life was changing as if in sync with the seasons, and how cunningly the subtle patterns arose. Thoughts of my mother’s passing found way into every piece of art I touched. My language became my grief, and my art became my tears. All to answer “after all that, why is my world still so beautiful?” In 2021, my father’s cancer diagnosis was the turning point and the beginning of this show. My woes began to pass. My work shifted from winter to spring. I was no longer focusing on the harshness of the cold and the quiet, but treasuring the senses that let us feel. The photos portray that shift. This project became the most revealing work I have done in all my time making. It is more honest than anything I had been confronted with before, philosophically and aesthetically. Ingrained, but not bound to, are the creeping signs of aging shown in ‘The Boxer’ as the material itself begins to buckle, the balancing of conflict and heart as portrayed in the Crash Etchings, and the optimistic nature of the whole show, The Day I Die. About Jack Jack Ramsdell is, of most things, a photographer. After four years of making art and living in New York, Jack moved back to his hometown, Mystic, CT, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree and a Minor in Literature and Philosophy from The Cooper Union. His decorated background of painting, drawing, printmaking, and videography, only furthered his abilities with the camera. He has exhibited work in over 10 group shows and recently had his first solo show to cap off his final year in college. Still in his early Twenties, Jack finds no time away from making and spends every moment observing. He has continued to do freelance photography, helping as a photographer assistant, as well as teaching private lessons, and getting involved in out-of-school art programs. He was awarded a merit scholarship from The Cooper Union and was awarded the Elenor Gay Lee Gallery Foundation Scholar Award for Leadership in 2023. |