Ryn Ruiz

Oyster River Pages: What is the most challenging aspect of your artistic process?

Ryn Ruiz: The most challenging aspect of my artistic process is finding effective ways of portraying whatever it is I am attempting to portray without being too literal or obvious.

ORP: What do you think is the best way to improve writing and/or artistic skills?

RR: Personally, I believe the best way to improve artistic skills is to practice, as well as to seek advice and learn from other artists.

ORP: What books have you read more than once in your life?

RR: As a preteen, I was in love with the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth, I read the whole trilogy several times.

ORP: What does vulnerability mean to you as an artist and/or writer?

RR: For me, being vulnerable is not necessarily to express heartache or trauma. For me, to be truly vulnerable as an artist is to express any emotion or worldview (positive or negative) and embrace it completely. It means really pushing those ideas and not shying away from telling them to people that ask about it.

Born and raised in Montana, Ryn Ruiz uses his small city upbringing, love for nature, and disabilities to inspire unique works studying the interactions between humans and nature, both healing and destructive. He also uses ghosts and abandoned structures to visualize a parallel between progressive disabilities and the decaying state of planet earth.

Ryn is currently working in Virginia as he studies for his bachelor’s degree in visual arts and the French language. His current focus is on film photography and intaglio print processes, but he maintains an experimental, multi-media approach to visualizing the emotional and vulnerable elements of the human experience.

VIEW Ryn’s VISUAL ART “They’ll Find Me Here Someday” FROM ISSUE 6.1 HERE.