Ryan Dempsey (b. 2002 Chandler, Arizona) has been painting with light as a subject for over a decade, crediting this niche interest to his desert upbringing and frequent visits to Los Angeles.  His work delves into perceptual experience; abstracting fleeting moments of everyday light interactions into hi-res, humorous, surprising, sensuous paintings that invite spectators to look, linger, close one eye, and then close both.  Ryan's work can be seen as both a means of research and response to the altering of society's visual sensibility in the digital age--each painting a painstaking record of light, color, and time made permanent through devoted looking and making.   His paintings are rooted in optical research, experimental color theory, and perceptual sciences, and often oscillate between object and visual experience. 

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​Ryan's primary medium is oil and acrylic paint, but he has also worked extensively in printmaking (in particular copper plate etching).   He received his BFA in painting from Boston University in May, 2024 and then set up a studio in Los Angeles.  In the fall of 2026, Ryan will begin his MFA in Studio Art at Hunter CUNY in New York City. In March of 2026, Ryan was selected as the Printmaker in Resident for the Elf School of the Arts (Hayesville, NC). 

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For inquiries or to set up a studio visit, please fill out the contact form below.  To stay updated on Ryan's work, visit the Mailing List tab.