Isaiah Ratterman is an award winning artist and received his MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and BFA from the University of Cincinnati. He lives and works in Denver, Colorado. His life has been immersed in the arts by not only his studio practice, but also teaching as a professor of fine arts in Denver before departing it to focus solely on his paintings. He is recognized by notable organizations such as the Society of Animal Artists as one of their Signature Members, and is also a member of Oil Painters of America. From figurative to wildlife, his work spans a wide range of subjects and has exhibited across the country. Zaya, as he signs his work, is a shorthand moniker of his name given to him by his family.
He is represented by:
The Dare Gallery, Charleston, SC
The Sandpiper Gallery, Sullivan’s Island, SC
The Breckenridge Gallery, Breckenridge, CO
Artist Statement:
My work is a reflection of experiences I hold close and acts as a means for deciphering them. This inspiration could be derived from immersive journeys in the landscape, or hidden moments that reveal themselves in unexpected ways. There is an intangible truth to be found in our everyday existence, and through my work, I hope to touch upon it.
A quote that has always inspired and stuck with me is by Lewis Mumford:
There comes a time – it is the beginning of manhood or womanhood- when one realizes that adventure is as humdrum as routine unless one assimilates it, unless one relates it to a central core which grows within and gives it contour and significance. Raw experience is empty…it is not what one does, but in a manifold sense, what one realizes, that keeps existence from being vain and trivial. Mankind moves about in worlds not realized. Ages hence people may realize more keenly what has happened today than our contemporaries do. It is the artist, the knower, the sayer, who realizes human experience, who takes the raw lump of ore we find in nature, smelts it, refines it, assays it, and stamps it into coins that can pass from hand to hand and make every man who touches them richer.