Born in 1978, Los Angeles, CA, US
Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA, US
M.F.A., University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, US
B.F.A., University of California, Los Angeles, CA, US
California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA, US
Conflating art's classical mythos with contemporary subjects and techniques, Ry Rocklen sculpts the world as he finds it, close at hand, into vivid and highly aestheticized simulacral objects. Rocklen's innocuous illusions cause double and triple takes — fueled by the wonderfully surprising and mysterious, yet basic material effects he achieves.
Whether cast, plated, or tiled, Rocklen's sculptures are figures of pronounced densification, solidification, compression, containment, and preservation. Investing such visual and material significance to personal found objects points to the quantities of meaning already inherent in the personal effects that fill our homes, surround us, occupy our world, and assist us daily. As though everything old and used deserves to be lavished with such excessive, meticulous care. Wrinkles and folds are beautiful and touching enough to be remembered and made permanent — eager to be monumentalized.
