Ryan Carrington works as a lecturer at San Jose State University teaching sculpture, foundry work, and mold making. Having received his MFA in spatial art from SJSU he went on to earned his BFA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in ceramics and woodworking. Carrington also spent 18 months as an artist-in-residence at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado, an experience that the artist credits with as having as much impact on my work as any formal education.

His work deals with a wide range of issues that connect labor, class, work ethic and economics with his personal history and family. Using cast objects, construction materials, and tools that combine craftsmanship with symbolic irony, he touches on themes of labor through gallery installations, performances, and site-specific work.

Artist Statement: My work addresses the shift in public perspective towards the culturally defined roles of blue and white-collar workers in the United States.  It bridges issues of labor, class, work ethic and economics with my personal and family history.  Within my studio practice I delve deep into processes that parallel the monotony and tedium that laborers endure.  By using construction materials directly off the shelf from Home Depot, pieces of uniforms that represent America’s workforce, and performing acts of labor while dressed as a CEO, I invite a discussion about the ever-changing class struggle in the United States.  My intent is to provide a conduit for empathy between our stratified society by inspiring dialogue across communities of people that represent the corners of our culture, history and socio-economic status.