Paige Ring
Toronto, ON
I'm drawn to gestural organic shapes, and how medium moves and interacts. I paint intuitively to escape the rigid structure of life’s responsibilities.
Message
I'm a self-taught, abstract expressionist painter living in Toronto, Ontario. My work often showcases gestural strokes, poured paint, layering, as well as organic marks and scrapes weaving through large areas of color. My work is mostly in acrylic and ink, but also resin, pastel and collage to create texture and depth.
I grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia in a small town just outside the city. I studied historic costume design and recreation at Dalhousie University, and moved to Toronto, Ontario to attend the Academy of Design's Fashion and Marketing program. In Toronto, I pursued a career in Fashion, creating womenswear for some of the world’s top departments stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Holt Renfrew, Harvey Nichols, and I also managed a women's line for Wal-Mart Canada. I also studied Graphic Design, and currently work as a creative director helping businesses with their brand and marketing strategy when I'm not in the studio painting.
Statement
In my work, I'm drawn to organic shapes, and how the medium moves and interacts on the canvas. I love the intuitive nature of abstract, and how it contrasts with the rigid structure of life’s responsibilities.
You'll see in my work there's a lot of bold gestural strokes, poured paint, and layering of organic marks and scrapes weaving through. I often use a limited palette with just a few colors. Color tells a story all on its own, the technique of how the color is applied, smooth and soft vs bold and loose, gives that story life. I paint mostly in acrylic and ink, but also resin, pastel and collage to create texture and depth. Although I use brushes, they aren't my first tool of choice. A palette knife, squeegee or another type of scraping tool would be my first choice.
My inspiration comes from everywhere, but my drive to paint comes from the need to escape the realities of the world, to retreat into a playful, imaginary place where I can be less structured. When I create, I do so to quiet the world around me, to temporarily shut out the noise and chaos of life. When the energy is aligned, the work flows — easy, graceful, uncomplicated.
When a painting is in progress I tell myself stories about them, which sometimes I share. The truly beautiful thing about abstraction though, is the opportunity for the viewer to tap into their own feelings, to see something all their own, so I try not to direct that process too much. Some artist don't like to hear what others see in their abstract work, but I love it. I find it fascinating to hear how people connect abstract shapes and lines to concrete images in their mind. It's a bit like a rorschach inkblot, it gives me insight into what that person is looking for, and I just love that.