Meet Rian Kerrane

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rian Kerrane.

Rian, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Working as a university professor has provided a focus that fuels my adventure travel bug. I travel frequently around the US, and worked additionally in Mexico, Austria, Latvia, Germany, Italy and almost annually in Ireland. Most of this travel is spurned by exhibitions, residencies, and conferences that relate to my creative research in the visual arts.

I am Irish and forever linked to that ancient landscape. Several years ago, I curated an exhibition entitled Hybrid in Denver and then in Ireland where seven Irish and seven U.S./International artists were asked to travel to both places, conceive and make work in and about the two locations. Each examined how place can inform and influence what is created. This is a concept I scrutinize continuously: who I am, as defined by place of origin. My own journeys to and from Ireland have led me to make work that continues this ongoing dialogue. I cast and fabricate sculpture, apply site specificity, installation and printmaking as methodologies examining these critical themes. My art is continually evolving. I produce small intimate pieces and also fill whole rooms with a single work. The image with the suitcase is from a performance filmed in County Donegal, Ireland, where I emulate waiting for the bus; walking off over the horizon and leaving for pastures greener; to acknowledge the lineage from whence I stem, of Irish immigrants dispersed around the world.

As a visual artist I feel lucky having the aptitude and means to express myself. My creative research investigates the world around me as I relate to experiences, thus assisting in the formation of my own reality. I gravitate in a tactile way to form, material, and color, particularly to historic objects that have been owned by others, used and discarded. In my exhibition statements I refer to this fascination with abandoned decor as contemporary archeology. As in the scientific field of archeology I too am searching for finds that sheds light on our own situation.  For me the studio and gallery are a kind of laboratory for a pseudo-science and a physicalized reflection and critique of our culture.      

There is an amazing network of creatives in the art world and I am honored to connect with the iron casting community. We share geeky interests in how things work, the alchemy of melting metal and reforming it into ideas, celebrating human ingenuity with performances and object making. We especially enjoy the comradery of shared physical labor followed by beers.

Iron has fueled and driven my practice immensely, but so too have my return trips to the Burren College of Art, County Clare, Ireland, where I conduct a month-long summer study abroad program on interdisciplinary and site-specific art.

Has it been a smooth road? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Validation is a driving focus in so many ways for all of us and perhaps demonstrably more for a visual artist who typically pursues exhibitions. As a sculptor, an academic, a mother, a lover, a friend, a mentor and an educator, my need to succeed is multiplied. If I truly define myself by the quota of successfulness in each of these roles, then maintaining my personal balance is perhaps the greatest unknown and biggest challenge as I get older. Learning the importance of this and staying healthy mentally and physically has become a goal. Learning to say no to opportunities, which I find difficult to do, is still a struggle. I am a problem solver. This is the fun part of the creative process and finding solutions is the satisfaction. Each artwork begins with a find and a concept, which playfully engage as parameters unfold. 

Attaining a fresh perspective is a reward in itself while sharing it through exhibition and now, more than ever, on social media is the finale.

Denver art organizations are having a tough time. My gallery, Mai Wyn Fine Art in the Santa Fe Art District, closed its doors during Covid-19. My career and my relationships in the art community are symbiotic. So much is changing for the studio arts, in education and in the production and exhibition of art. I am working with the History Colorado Center on an interactive project for their atrium in conjunction with the fall exhibition on American Democracy. Resolving how to move forward with public engagement for this will be shaped by safety protocols, which is tricky, as it involves physically making casts of hundreds of individual hands.

Tell us about your business/company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
As with so much of the foundry world, collaboration is key, and participation is the initiation.

I introduced iron casting to the sculpture curriculum at CU in 2005 and have since hosted many nomadic foundry events in the Denver neighborhood. 

Here are some links to recent iron activities:
https://denver.cbslocal.com/2016/04/23/cu-denver-iron-pour-rtd-a-line-train/
https://news.ucdenver.edu/snapshots/iron-casting-performance-at-rino-oxpecker-ball/

My community in iron is expansive. Here are links to a few connections and events:
http://wciaa.org

From the documentary IRON-R 18:

Link here: https://vimeo.com/291338945/9f97711cd

Photographic documentation/portrait by Jed Niezgoda: Rian Kerrane

You might have happened upon our performances with hot metal at the Denver Art Museum or in the River North Arts District or on the Auraria Campus over the years. Hot iron is poured into molds and also creatively spun, tossed, and spilled in performances. The events involve the dedication of my students and alumni from CU Denver. Iron is magnetic and attracts us all, pulling us together each time we melt metal. I have made so many staunch friends who don their leather safety gear and come play with fire when we set up the furnace. My students at CU Denver have worked with invited artists to fabricate the tools and equipment needed to melt iron. I feel my job is to go to work every day and learn alongside my students. I love teaching and have mentored so many individuals since beginning at CU in 2002.

To me the role of education is linked creatively to making, and I endeavor to inform and inspire all with whom I come into contact. If we can express and communicate visually then we do so beyond the spoken word. I value art for this ability to link across gaps and see it as having a long-established role in social practice.

With personal and domestic narratives, my work for some time has included wallpaper installations that include a variety of protrusions, cast objects and dimensionality. This past year I was commissioned by the Downtown Denver Alleyway Project to install an outdoor version at 16th and Court PL. It’s on view until September so please stop by. 

Links here:
https://www.downtowndenver.com/experience-downtown/alleys/

Chanel 2 News, Denver, Colorado, Unique 2 CO
https://www.facebook.com/rian.kerrane/videos/10221084172075151/
https://www.heyhueart.com/public-art#/the-oscar-wallpaper/

The installation pays homage to Oscar Wilde’s 1882 visit to Leadville, Colorado. The witty Irish poet, novelist and playwright developed a lecture tour derived from the theories of the Arts & Crafts Movements called, “The Practical Application of the Principles of the Aesthetic Theory to Exterior and Interior House Decoration, With Observations upon Dress and Personal Ornaments.”

This video link to Iron50: Annual U of M Iron Pour, 2019, marks an event celebrating the iron casting program at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.  This provides a snippet of the national and international community and the process centered around iron and the mentorship of generations of casters. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co4ZUTACGuY&feature=player_embedded

I am sporting the green hard hat and as a guest artist I conducted a performance entitled The Branding Iron Graffiti Project (or the housewife at the ironing board). I produced over 50 branding irons in cast iron and invited folks to use the hot irons to scorch their own messages onto the wooden boards.

Artist producing iron cast brands

The Branding Iron Graffiti Project (or the housewife at the ironing board). Iron50: Annual U of M Iron Pour, 2019

Rian Kerrane performing The Branding Iron Graffiti Project (or the housewife at the ironing board). Iron50: Annual U of M Iron Pour, 2019, Minneapolis MN.

Faith (Mother) and Felix (son) ironing board. 

The Branding Iron Graffiti Project (or the housewife at the ironing board). Iron50: Annual U of M Iron Pour, 2019, Minneapolis MN.

The 13 ironing boards from Iron50: Annual U of M Iron Pour, 2019, exhibited in a follow-on work in Denver at the Republic Plaza.

Links:
https://www.artsbrookfield.com/event/rian-kerrane/
https://artsandmedia.ucdenver.edu/events-list/insideout/2019/09/26/default-calendar/defining-milieu-and-the-oscar-wallpaper

Rian Kerrane, Defining Milieu, Republic Plaza, Denver, 2019

Oscar Wilde Quotes branded on paper, wood, steel, cast iron, fabrics, paint.

Another liaison in Denver the River North Art District involved a projection onto a building in RiNo Side Stories 

Links:
https://303magazine.com/2018/02/side-stories-rino/
And
https://vimeo.com/288817374

My hand casting community project last year at Understudy, Immortalize, inspired We The People, soon to show at the Colorado History Center.
https://understudydenver.com/portfolio/immortalize/

I am currently involved in an exhibition from July to September at The Arvada Center that will be viewable in person with social distancing and by reservation only. The artist collective Pink Progression rose out of the 2017 Womxn’s March to inspire social change and explore ideas of feminism, equality, inclusivity, gender identity, unity, and community through creative expression.

https://arvadacenter.org/events/pink-progression-collaborations

And in the drawing exhibition https://i5olationportfolio.org

What role has luck (good luck or bad luck) played in your life and business?
I made many of the key choices that shaped my future in my twenties. The paths chosen were not necessarily planned, nor were they anchored in strategic logic. Rather, my adventures began in Ireland when I decided to study art formally at age 18. No foresight pushed me, other than creative satisfaction and knowledge and belief in the reality of art. I was never happier, nor had I ever worked so hard as when I was immersed in the studio arts. This journey from the Letterkenny Institute of Technology, Ireland, to the University of Ulster, Belfast and ultimately to the University of New Orleans, Louisiana for a Master of Fine Art degree paved the way to my career as an artist and a professor at the University of Colorado Denver. 

In reality, deviations and experiences along the way contributed as much as my formal education to my life today. Some of these side jaunts include a year away from art school in Northern Ireland when I lived in New York for six months. After undergraduate study I spent six months traveling in India. Among other happenings there was my stint in a shampoo factory in the Netherlands.

Almost arbitrarily I got a grant to spend ten weeks making art in Louisiana in the nineties and fell in love with the culture and art community on this second opportunity to visit the U.S. I returned soon after and recently passed the point, where more of my life has been lived in this country than in Ireland.

Of the many factors en route to this present moment I firmly believe that the perspective gained through travel is formative; that conversations and relationships are critical; and that doing what feels right for who you are is not only rewarding but the source of success. 

I try to see all occurrences (good and bad) as elements of this same journey. 
Rian Kerrane
June 19, 2020
www.RianKerrane.com
@RianannK
https://www.facebook.com/rian.kerrane

Additional Links:
https://www.maiwyn.com/artists-summary/rian-kerrane
https://www.behance.net/gallery/95435409/Staying-Relevant-Making-During-Times-of-Division
https://www.westword.com/arts/another-100-colorado-creatives-rian-kerrane-5806277
https://www.facebook.com/UniversityofColoradoDenverSculptureProgram/
https://www.facebook.com/CUDenverArtPractices/

Rian Kerrane, Clutch, cast glass.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.RianKerrane.com
• Phone: [email protected]

Image Credit:
All images credited to Rian Kerrane except for the following:
Photographic documentation/portrait by Jed Niezgoda: Rian Kerrane

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