Rez Raven

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Rez Raven was born in Persia in 1962 where he began his studies in art. Rez furthered his education at the University of Toronto, where he studied graphic design. His early work incorporates collage and oil on canvas. He has extensive knowledge and experience in printmaking, which influences his current work.

Raven is long recognized as an accomplished artist with a breadth of work spanning many mediums – print-maker, photographer, bricolage artist and, most prolifically, painter.  His latest work – a foray into what some have coined “numb sentimentalism” – collides the aesthetics of primitive drawing and landscape kitsch.

He has been known to thrive on chance and “destructive dialectics” in his work. A highly impulsive process of layering, scratching, ripping and carving his works at mature, even polished stages is frequently adopted. The canvases are then re-figured as conflicted, mood-infested renderings following a jagged arc of inspiration over time.

Artist Statement:

“My work is a world of experimentation and discovery. The pensive horse, the apprehensive deer, the risky sunlight. A soft breeze, a drop in the ocean. The rock, it mirrors mans’ first attempts at creation, unique beside the natural world. It reflects a myriad of approaches and techniques. Each work opens up a multidimensional interpretation, a flow not needing language. Sometimes a window appears carrying the message even further. The tactile quality of the work makes one feel to touch. There are intentional coincidences and possibilities. A definite balance and harmony. My hope is that the onlooker will use the work to help in enriching self awareness, discovery and harmony.”