Artist's Statement:
As an artist, I'm interested in the symbols, images and objects that man makes. My work evolved from my research of Native American petroglyphs and pictographs in the Southwest.
Petroglyphs and pictographs are humanities' oldest evidence of artistic expression. Lacking the knowledge of, or perhaps ignoring "renaissance space", primitive peoples' figures were frontal and flat with scale ranging from a few inches to ten feet in height or length.The difference between petroglyphs and pictographs lies in their medium. Petroglyphs are carved or pecked into surfaces such as volcanic rock, basalt, or sandstone. Pictographs were "painted" onto surfaces using pigments made from an amalgamation of pulverized stone, roots, clay, urine and blood.
Many of my drawings involve more than 100 hours of surface creation and manipulation. The character of the piece is determined by the physical process I use. Most of the symbols selected are spirits, shamans and animals. I use both additive and subtractive techniques. With a variety of materials, I build a multi-layered surface on heavyweight paper. The paper is then scraped, scratched, engraved and drawn with images and symbols. All works are acid-free and archival.
Dennis Ringering - Collinsville, Illinois 2021