Ripon College Days

Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: Entertainment

Ryan Loomis

When he's not playing pool or making plans with his Sigma Chi brothers, senior art major Ryan Loomis can be found down in Rodman working on his senior seminar project.

Loomis first noticed his knack for art in kindergarten, and remembers the story his mom tells him about his talent.

"My mom tells me the story about when the teacher spoke to her, "says Loomis, "and shows her some of the work I did. She told her how advanced I was and should go to an art school."

Although art school never happened for Loomis, he continued his talent through grade school and continued taking classes at Ripon.

"I still took classes through freshmen year in painting and drawing because I was skilled at that," Loomis explains. "I noticed that I was taking a lot of art classes, and I really enjoyed what I was doing, especially when I took Art History. I always wanted to do an art minor when I first came to college, but then decided that a major was the route for me."

With Loomis' college career at an end, he realizes that he has to spend a lot of time thinking about what he wants to do with his life. Loomis decided to use his senior art project as a means to express this crossroads.

"When I sat down and started to think about my work," says Loomis, "I knew I wanted a portrait, but I realized it should be more. It should have things behind me that I have seen and that which have helped me shape my life, and the things which I want to do with my life in front of me."

As the idea of the portrait expanded, Loomis changed his plans multiple times.

"My plans changed when I was made aware of the Greek god Janus," explains Loomis. "In Greek mythology he is the God of doorways. He is a figure with two heads facing back to back in opposite directions. His two heads allow him to see the past and the future at the same time."

With the influence of this idea, Loomis settled on two works instead of just the one portrait.

"I put two portraits of myself back to back," Loomis goes over the logistics of his work. "The left piece is one of contemplation, meditation and reflection for me. [The portrait] is facing the left as if to look back on where I have been and where I came from. On the right canvas are the things I want for myself in the future."

With these two portraits came many challenges and obstacles.

"The portrait is the biggest challenge I've had," says Loomis, "especially the one on the left. The tough part is getting the faces to look perfect. The portrait kind of hinges on that."

Despite this challenge and a few others, Loomis still finds the experience rewarding.

"The artistic process I went through helped me better understand what it is like to do art for a living and evaluate my life while doing it. This time of my life is a transition time and by making this piece, it may help me to the next place in my life.

Loomis also finds the production art in general satisfying.

"I like the freedom of it," says Loomis. "It's kind of your own little world. You get to make the big decisions where you want stuff to go. With painting, I can move mountains, make rivers…grow trees."

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