October 7—Born from Southern California beaches, skateboarding and punk rock, Todd Ryan White moved to New Mexico to practice “Desert Solitaire.”
Literally the title of his last solo exhibition at the Hecho Gallery in Santa Fe, White taught graphic design at the Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston.
Rendered free of floating plants, insects and animals, these watercolors represent an extreme post-COVID shift from excess to simplicity. Now living in Eldorado outside of Santa Fe, White explores the landscapes and animals that surround her home, often juxtaposing them with abstract geometric shapes in a dreamlike vision.
These aren’t the warm, fuzzy creatures of Beatrix Potter fame. White instead focuses her gaze on snakes and moths, as well as cacti and dandelions.
“I felt like the moth was coming back as a symbol of transformation,” White said in a phone interview. “The butterfly is the transformation of day; the moth is the transformation of night. I felt like I was transforming the moth into a butterfly.
“I failed with a rabbit,” he added. “It really wasn’t good enough.”
The detail is reminiscent of botanical prints. The landscapes are from photographs taken by White at Ghost Ranch.
His mother was an art school student who dropped out when she gave birth to him. But she gave her son private lessons from the fourth year.
White cites influences ranging from the late artist Arroyo Hondo Ken Price, known for his abstract clay figures and prints, botanical illustrations and, of course, Georgia O’Keeffe.
“I’ve been to Ghost Ranch several times,” he said.
His last big show was at Santa Fe’s Form & Concept in 2019.
These rooms were large – one spanned 10 feet by 15 feet – and dense with detail, lines and historical references. He spent up to five years working on it, and then COVID hit.
The pandemic has allowed him to slow down and reflect.
“My works have always been volatile; I have always tried to say a lot about culture and violence,” he said.
At the start of his new job, he hung the cacti and weeds in space, but he didn’t like the look, so he gave them geometric containers.
“It was like an abduction, like an alien ripping the plant out of the ground,” he said.
White taught at the old Santa Fe College beginning in 2010. He and his wife own Good Folk, a folk art gallery in Santa Fe. In 2020, the New Mexico Museum of Art featured his work in his Alcove Gallery.
White also plays drums and sings with the band Heretical Sect.
“We wear masks, we wear balaclavas,” he said, “so people don’t know who we are. It’s like performance art.”
“No matter what I do, I always come back to ‘art,’ he said. “I feel like there’s always room for growth. I feel like I can be in touch with myself and the world around me. It’s kind of of spiritual practice.”
‘Todd Ryan White: Lonely Desert’
Editor’s note: The Journal continues the monthly “From the Studio” series with Kathaleen Roberts, as she takes a close look at an artist.
WHEN: Until October 30
WHERE: Hecho Gallery, 129 W. Palace Ave., Santa Fe
CONTACT: 505-455-6882, hecho.gallery.
