Ryan Feddersen
Ryan Elizabeth Feddersen (stylized RYAN! Feddersen)[1] (born 1984) is a Colville artist known for her interactive public art installations in the Pacific Northwest.
Early life and education
[edit]Feddersen was born in 1984 and grew up in Wenatchee, Washington.[2] She is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.[2] Her uncle, Joe Feddersen, is an artist as well.[3] Feddersen attended the Institute of American Indian Arts before transferring to Seattle's Cornish College of the Arts, graduating in 2009 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.[1][3]
Career
[edit]Before becoming a full-time artist, Feddersen worked at the Tacoma Art Museum and 4Culture.[4] One of Feddersen's first installations was "Coyote Now," an interactive piece that invites viewers to use crayons shaped like coyote bones to color the art themselves.[3][5] Her piece "Kill the Indian, Save the Man" was displayed at Seattle's King Street Station in 2017.[6] The artwork was a large map of the United States that, when rubbed by the viewer, displayed a list of Indian boarding schools.[6]
In 2018, her work was displayed at the Museum of Northwest Art as part of their "In Red Ink" exhibit.[3] A separate work of art, "The Post Human Archive," was displayed at the Seattle Art Museum that same year.[3] The piece was an interactive installation where viewers uploaded photos of themselves to an online database.[3] In 2019, a three-story mural created by Feddersen was installed at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle.[7][8]
Feddersen completed her first work of public art, "Nexus," in 2019.[4] The piece was commissioned by the Washington State Historical Society and installed along the Prairie Line Trail in Tacoma.[4] In 2021, she was contracted by Portland International Airport to create a work of art for one of the airport's concourses.[1] The finished piece, "Inhabitance," consists of a series of panels that, depending on the angle, appear to show a landscape or an image of an eye.[1] She returned to Tacoma in 2022 to construct "Mini-Tahoma," a representation of Mount Rainier's Tahoma Glacier constructed out of concrete and blue glass.[4][9] That same year, Feddersen participated in Forest for the Trees, a major exhibition held alongside the Seattle Art Fair.[10] She also painted a mural on the side of CitizenM's location in Pioneer Square.[11]
In 2024, Feddersen constructed stained-glass windows for the Auburn Sounder station.[1] The piece, titled "Companion Gardens," consisted of multiple brightly-colored windows with various plants displayed on them.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Clemans, Gayle (2024-11-22). "This WA artist brings subtle beauty to everyday life". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ a b "Ryan Feddersen". Artist Trust. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ a b c d e f Davis, Brangien (2018-07-05). "Artist RYAN! Feddersen flips the script on Native American stereotypes". Cascade PBS. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ a b c d Gallup, Lauren (2022-06-07). "Tacoma-Based Artist Tells Stories Through Her Public Work". Northwest Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ Johnson, Georgia (2018-09-28). "Santa Cruz Leaves its Mark on MAH's Interactive 'Coyote Now'". Good Times. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ a b Vansynghel, Margo (2018-03-27). "Trickster for Good". City Arts Magazine. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
- ^ Lloyd, Sarah Anne (2019-10-17). "The new Burke Museum brings history and culture out into the open". Curbed. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ Elliott, Gwendolyn (2019-09-04). "Seattle Fall Arts Preview: Inside the New Burke Museum". Seattle Magazine. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ Davis, Brangien; Vansynghel, Margo (2021-11-19). "For Thanksgiving, check out new Native art in Seattle". Cascade PBS. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ Vansynghel, Margo (2022-07-13). "A big indie alternative to Seattle Art Fair opens in Pioneer Square". Cascade PBS. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ "Mural unveiled at citizenM's new Pioneer Square hotel". Daily Journal of Commerce. 2022-01-03. Retrieved 2024-11-28.