about...

artist statement / bio

Ron Rice is a contemporary artist working in visual and audible media. Whether interacting with pigment or sound, Rice strives to collaborate with his materials rather than forcing a pre-conceived vision of what the piece is to become. His process is a form of meditation that focuses on an awareness of the visual surface or acoustic space, and the resulting works can be read as a document of this process.

Rice's visual works use tiny circular forms as a motif to fill the two dimensional space, resulting in field like compositions that have minimal depth and emphasize surface texture. Many of his pieces appear fairly uniform if seen from a distance but reveal more dynamic variations in density, color and line when viewed up close. Rice perceives this dichotomy of visual experience as a representation of the Indian philosophical concepts of karmani (in action) and akarma (inaction). Rice's visual influences include Australian aboriginal art, Jean Dubuffet, Paul Klee, Lee Krasner, Richard Pousette-Dart, Mark Tobey, Cy Twombly, archaea, colloidal dispersions, and natural sunlight as it interacts with liquid or metallic surfaces.

Through seemingly unintentional arrangements of unrecognisable sounds, Rice's audio works aim to cultivate new perceptions of the acoustic apparatus [sound source | sound waves | physical space | ears | listener]. In a manner similar to Rice's visual works, listeners are encouraged to explore strikingly different perceptions by varying playback volume and level of attention. Rice's audible influences include Japanese noise music, John Cage, John Duncan, Brian Eno, Pierre Henry, Liugi Russolo, Sonic Youth, LaMonte Young, acoustic manifestations of electricity, shortwave radio, and the sounds of traffic and road construction.

Rice is a Washington State native, born in Spokane in 1966 and currently living in Seattle. His B.A. in Fine Arts was received at Washington State University in 1990, and he subsequently earned an M.F.A. at Ohio University in 1993.