Hi, I’m Riss!

I grew up in the woods of South Carolina. I find the urge to create is the most human thing one can experience and I embraced all phases of creativity growing up. I would hyper-fixate on a singular mode of expression before another one would grip me. I carved soap, arranged flowers, crafted jewelry, gardened, wrote stories, and filled numerous disposable cameras with pictures of plants and critters. 

When it came time to leave home, I found myself furthering my artistic pursuits at the Savannah College of Art and Design. As I was earning my B.F.A, art school gave me a fervent and passionate relationship with the process of making art. To me, the significance of the creative process often surpasses the importance of the end result. The steps I take to make each and every piece binds me to that work of art. With the process, the artwork can shape and affect me just as I affect it through brushstrokes. Establishing this connection between me and my work means that regardless of how my art is received, I have achieved the most important thing that I can through my artwork; fulfillment in myself. Because if the art doesn’t matter to the artist, how can it matter to the viewer? 

My goal is not to make something beautiful. Although I value the visual impact of a work, I find that beauty is too easily achievable in art. What I want is to make an impact. What is it that makes an image stick with you awhile? I love high contrast. In nature, a bright color next to a dark color warns of venom. It means danger. I think that’s wondrous.

Through my work, allow me to share a bit of light with you. Or grit. Or drama. Whatever moves you, I want to translate it into art.