Companion Garden, 2024
Sub-laminated Digital Film in Glass
Recognizing the intimate connection between health and traditional foods, Companion Garden features six indigenous edible and medicinal plants: t́aqa (salal), t́iləqʷ (strawberry), sx̌ʷi (oregon grape), wədaʔx̌ (huckleberry), sćədᶻx̌ (nettle), and ćəḱapaʔ (wild rose). The designs carry forward Plateau Pictorial Beadwork traditions from the Interior Salish region. Each canopy Continue reading Companion Garden
Vanishing Falls, 2024
Painted Mural
Vanishing Falls is a monumental mural which playfully nods to our relationships with water across time. Once, glaciers created the abundance of our region. This vibrancy is depicted through silhouettes of indigenous plants. Currently, water serves us in apparent and hidden ways. Continue reading Vanishing Falls
GATHER, GROUNDING, AND THANK YOU & GOODBYE, 2024
Coated Steel & Reflective Vinyl
Gather, Grounding, and Thank You & Goodbye are three interconnected artworks which express welcome, belonging, and gratitude. ‘Gather’, the three-panel entry door on Boren is inspired by twined gathering baskets. When the panels activate to open the door, Continue reading Gather, Grounding, and Thank You & Goodbye
BIOLOGIC ETHOS, 2023
Direct digital print on glass
Biologic Ethos is a series of three floral motifs depicting multiple life stages of indigenous plant species through compositions that carry forward Interior Plateau bead working traditions. Each motif represents a single plant species shown in various seasons. Continue reading Biologic Ethos
SCHEMA, 2022
Enamel on Porcelain Tile, 26’6” x 74’
Schema is a large-scale graphic mural that features an abstract map depicting layers of Seattle’s early history and idiosyncrasies. Composed into a vibrant grid, the artwork engages the aesthetic structure and color palette of turn of the century Native American beadwork. The abstracted and symbolic imagery layers and contrasts Continue reading Schema
INHABITANCE, 2021
Steel, Oak Veneer, and Enameled Glass.
Inhabitance is a series of three interconnected artworks which highlight the exceptional diversity and significance of the Pacific Northwest biomes- the specific environments classified by the organisms that can live there. The Sentinels feature portraits of the land from Oregon’s astounding number of biomes, Continue reading Inhabitance
Mini-Tahoma, 2021
Paint, Landscape Glass, Stainless Steel, LED Lighting.
Approximately 175’x 30′
In an homage to set design, this immersive installation utilizes painted elements, sculpture, lighting, and glass to reimagine the now dry Waterwall as a miniature tribute to Tahoma Glacier, one of the glacial reservoirs that are the basis of our regional abundance. Continue reading Mini Tahoma
Antecedents, 2020
Dye sublimated image film, tempered glass, stainless steel, LED 6’x4’x3″ per box
Antecedents is a set of five light-boxes which blend inspirations from scientific practice, concepts rooted in Plateau origin stories, and ruminations on our relationships with the life-forms and ecosystems with which we share the world. Continue reading Antecedents
In August 2019, the Museum of Glass Visiting Artist Residency Program hosted RYAN! in their world-class Hot Shop for one week to create new works in glass with the Hot Shop Team. This was a part of a 6-month residency series hosted in conjunction with two exhibitions grounded in indigenous artists. Continue reading Remains
Waterways was a series of twelve temporary rain-activated medallions placed on sidewalks at intersections along the future tunnel’s path that correspond to where surface water runs toward the Ship Canal. The medallions featured imagery developed through public engagement workshops Continue reading Waterways
Synecdoche, 2019
Vinyl, Acrylic. 46’ x 60’
Synecdoche features a cascade of transforming glyphs that draw motifs from the Burke collection and our world at large. Through reflections on nature, technology, and culture, a visual language is generated that explores the interconnectedness between disciplines of study and our everyday lived experience. Continue reading Synecdoche
Seeking Visions for a Better World, 2019
Vinyl, 105 lineal feet
Seeking Visions for a Better World was a call for images and aspirational sentiments that invoke constructive visions of the future to counterbalance the preponderance of dystopic visions presented in pop-culture, literature, and media. Inspired by traditional pictographs and contemporary graffiti Continue reading Seeking Visions for a Better World
Taking inspiration from childhood games of “playing store,” NEXUS is staged as a trading space that you can step into, making room for imaginative play while also learning about inter-tribal relationships. The artwork references the exchange of Continue reading Nexus
AURA was a photo booth mural where those attending an auction were photographed with a modified star chart overlayed with a map depicting the 27,000 pieces of human-made space trash currently being tracked (the largest/most dangerous of an estimated 5,000,000).
Commissioned by Artist Trust
Seattle Center, Seattle, WA
Phantom Lands
Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture
October 4, 2018 – January 20, 2019
Phantom Lands, a solo exhibition at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane, Washington, forms connections between United States History, Okanogan lore, and current events to ignite conversations about place, use of space and our relationship to the environment. Continue reading Phantom Lands
Squeeze, 2018
Acrylic, vinyl, steel cord, and aluminum.
SQUEEZE illustrates the rapidly rising cost of living in our region through a site-specific performance and series of temporary artworks. It began with 18 sculptural price tags of varying oversized scales installed by a two-person crew throughout Downtown Bellevue Continue reading SQUEEZE
NOT FRAGILE
Curated by RYAN! Feddersen
Center for Contemporary Native Art, Portland Art Museum
September 7, 2018 – June 9, 2019
Though often associated with delicacy, glass is forged through intense and violent forces—a meteorite impacting the earth, a nuclear bomb detonating, or a 2,000 °F crucible. Not Fragile features artists from across the Pacific Northwest who use glass in innovative ways to impart messages of strength, resilience, and insubordination. Continue reading NOT FRAGILE
Coyote Now Epic, 2018
Archival pigment print on Photo-Tex and cast crayon, 10’x 72′
Coyote Now Epic, created for the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, was the largest iteration of the Coyote Now saga to date, covering the walls of an entire gallery floor-to-ceiling. This immersive work was an invitation to think about the trickster, Coyote, as an active player in contemporary events Continue reading Coyote Now Epic
The Post Human Archive, 2018
Mixed Media Installation and Website.
The Post Human Archive, was an interactive artwork and thought experiment created for the Double Exposure Education Gallery at the Seattle Art Museum. This project explored conflicts surrounding Edward Curtis’s images of Native people by inviting visitors to put themselves in a similar position of being documented and defined by an outside force.
In Red Ink
Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA
July 7, 2018 – September 23, 2018
A major exhibit of recent works by contemporary Native American artists, curated by artist RYAN! Feddersen (Okanogan /Arrow Lakes), with Chloe Dye Sherpe. In Red Ink, forms a corrective lens on stereotypical and historicized depictions of Native American identity by highlighting artists who are addressing their own histories and traditions while simultaneously reflecting their current realities within a living culture. Continue reading IN RED INK
Canaries, 2018.
Coal, Construction toys, and scrub brushes.
Canaries is part cautionary allegory on how we interact with the environment, part exploration on how “play” teaches us how to think about the world. Canaries was inspired by the oxymoron of clean coal rhetoric paired with watching children play gleefully at industries that are major players in the destruction of the environment and our health. Continue reading Canaries
Kill the Indian, Save the Man, 2017
Vinyl, thermochromic ink, charting tape, astro turf, and laser-cut acrylic.
This artwork can be touched. The black bars are coated in ink that turns translucent through body heat. The piece depicts three systems of state-sponsored cultural genocide: Indian Removal Policy, a system that displaced communities from traditional lands onto ever shrinking reservations. With each push of westward expansion, there was a corresponding decimation of native populations. The mass slaughter of the bison, which was endorsed by the US Army, who’s Generals routinely led state sponsored hunting excursions with the express purpose of annihilating the bison under the motto “Kill every buffalo you can! Every buffalo dead is an Indian gone.” And Indian Boarding Schools, Continue reading Kill the Indian, Save the Man- Borderlands
Black Snake Rising, 2017
Vinyl, 11′ x 52′
Pouring in as a coiling nest, this sea of oil depicts black snakes flowing in a progression of life-scale petroleum-based products transitioning into species most affected by oil spills. The artworks scale and implied motion amplify the impression of being drown in an ocean filled with our necessities, indulgences, and consequences. Continue reading Black Snake Rising
Micro Spill, 2016
Acrylic, cement, and astro turf in a snow globe. 7”x7”x11”
Edition of 3.
Created in support of the NODAPL Standing Rock movement, this artwork is a reminder of the power we hold in our hands over the environment. When flipped, this miniature cross section of the Dakota Access Pipeline will “leak” black oil (glitter) mucking the globe. Please shake gently. Continue reading Micro Spill
Comment Burst, 2017
Plastic, vinyl, paper, and confetti. 12’x6’x4’
Comment Burst looks at comment culture as a storm cloud that you willingly dump on yourself. It would have confetti in the shape of letters that deconstruct hate speech / aggressive ignorance you often find in comments sections on news/social media sites. Continue reading Comment Burst
Introduction by Amanda Donnan
[Excerpt]For AND NOT OR, Feddersen is planning vinyl mural entitled Manifest Signs IV, which draws on imagery and themes that recur throughout Feddersen’s recent artworks. The mural, Continue reading Manifest Signs IV
This artwork is a survey of Indian Boarding Schools Operating from 1850-2017. The map appears in a censored state, with black ink obscuring the content. This special ink can be made transparent using the heat of touch. The viewer is encouraged to touch the artwork to reveal details obscured at first glance. Continue reading Kill the Indian, Save the Man
Manifest Signs, Triptych 2017
Laser cut acrylic and vinyl. 40”x40”x 1.5” per panel
Each panel of this triptych portrays a “sign” that explores an ongoing effect of Manifest Destiny, the belief that Anglo expansion across the continent was destined by the Christian God. In the first panel Continue reading Manifest Signs
The Happenings Kiosk began as a Call for Submissions, directing the viewer via QR code to a submission form to contribute text and images based on the prompts: What Happened? and What Will Happen? Inspired by the words, ideas and pictures submitted, The Happenings Kiosk was transformed Continue reading Happenings
Resistance, 2016
RYAN! Feddersen: Resistance was the first in a series of solo exhibitions at the Missoula Art Museum that invite indigenous artists to make and show work at the museum through the generous support of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
Meditations on Resistance Continue reading Resistance
A wire-framed giantess sits reclining on stairs within the Maker Faire participants’ reach. Using the open grid and the wire, the figure relies on the audience’s participation to transform from her ethereal outline to a colorful dense figure through the weaving of colorful flagging tape by audience members. Continue reading Reclining Figure
White Out, 2016
Chalk, vinyl Stencils. Dimensions variable.
White Out is a temporary artistic intervention on a street-side building at Delridge Playfield. Working with the concept of erasure and reemergence, the artwork will change and disintegrate throughout the installation. The artwork’s transformation is an illustration of the rapidly changing neighborhood, and a symbol of the resilience of the Delridge community. Continue reading White Out
Based on the mouth of the Skagit River, this sprawling image of a metaphorical river forms a unifying theme that describes how artistic movements build; each strand a part of continuity and a constantly changing entity formed through a multiplicity of views. Continue reading Skyriver
Coyote Now: Bones, 2016
Ink on board paper and cast crayon. 6” x 0.5” x 6.25”
Presented as a set of eight crayons cast as colorful, yet realistic replicas of Coyote bones, the piece combines the recognizable tools of creativity with plateau lore. The only way to truly tell if Coyote’s adventure is at its end- is by his death, and conversely, each new saga begins with his resurrection. Continue reading Coyote Now: Bones
The Dozen, 2016
Wax (cast crayon) and cast paper. 14” x 14” x 4”
Oysters have been found across the entirety of the continent, regardless of proximity to water, due to the robust indigenous trade of commodities and crafts. Beyond the beauty of an oyster’s shell, their nature has provided rich metaphorical inspiration, representing opportunity, wealth, challenge, and fertility. Continue reading The Dozen
Coyote Now: Connecting with Nature, 2016
Marker on bristol board. 44” x 28”
Coyote Now is in an invitation to engage with imaginative storytelling through the assertion that the Trickster, Coyote, has been a continuous player in both historical and everyday events. In this scene, Connecting with Nature, Coyote is taking a break from his busy modern life and enjoying a scenic view while camping. Continue reading Coyote Now: Connecting with Nature
Disconnected Towers, 2015
Wood, conduit, acrylic and led. Dimensions variable.
Edition of 9 unique towers.
In a city consumed by rampant redevelopment, even once innocuous construction elements can become ominous signifiers. In Disconnected Towers, temporary power posts used to tie-off electricity in the demolition and construction of homes, are re-imagined as beacons that portend gentrification and scaffolds that uphold societal ideology and duplicity. Continue reading Disconnected Towers
Blade Descending Pedestal, 2011
Steel and altered pedestal. 50” x 24” x 24”
Blade Descending Pedestal is a playful, but sharp critique of object driven sculptural practice. The blades, while themselves evocative of the fetishized “object” created by the hand of the artist with the exhibition of craftsmanship and mastery of material, are shown cutting into the pedestal. Continue reading Blade Descending Pedestal
Coyote Now, 2015
Ink on board and cast crayon. 7’ x 28’
A hands-on art activity in Tacoma Art Museum studio during the 6th Annual Northwest Native Celebration. The project is an invitation to think about the trickster, Coyote, as an active player in contemporary events. The artwork explores Coyote’s role in the creation of the space needle, epic sinkholes, even the root cause of global warming, and sets the stage for the audience to create a few of their own as part of this large collaborative drawing & coloring installation. Continue reading Coyote Now
900*Horses, 2015
Pulverized chalk pastel based paint, 2000sqft. Temporary.
900* Horses was a response to the difference between a monument and a memorial. While they both stand as marks of remembrance, they often represent divergent messages. Monuments are symbols of power; they celebrate and reinforce the primacy of a political or historical viewpoint. Continue reading 900* Horses