Ron Isaacs
Venture, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 58”x24”x6”
Sometimes, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 26”x31”x1.75”
Gathering, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 28”x26.5”x4.75”
Homo Sycamoris, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 32”x38”x2.5”
Work in Progress, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 32”x31.75”x4”
Little Sister, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 32”x22.75”x3”
Presence, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 25.75”x30.5”x3”
Metamora, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 35”x33.75”x4”
Phenomenon, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 21.5”x12”x1.25”
Anomaly, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 24”x21.5”x1.5”
Lady, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 23”x13.75”x8”
Domestication Series: Flowering Sycamore, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 15”x22”x11.5”
Wallflowers, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 20”x14”x2.5”
Small Wonder, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 25.75”x10.75”x2.25”
Oakbox, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 12.75”x12.75”x2.25”
Passing, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 19.25”x15.25”x4.5”
White Gloves, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 9”x7.5'“x1.25” SOLD
Red Gloves, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 8.25”x7.25”x1” SOLD
Yellow Gloves, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 9.25”x6.5”x1.5”
Ping Pong (Five Pieces), Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 12”x32”x1.75” Overall
She Walks in Beauty, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 11.75”x7”x4.25”
Intermission Riff, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 13.5”x11.5”x2.75”
Reasonable Facsimile, Acrylic on Birch Plywood Construction, 12.5”x11.5”2.75”
Ron Isaacs, Human / Nature : In Touch, acrylic on birch plywood construction, 5 1/2 x 30 3/4 x 1 1/2
Ron Isaacs, Know By Heart, acrylic on birch plywood construction, 22 x 23 1/2 x 2 3/4"
Ron Isaacs, Secret, acrylic on birch plywood construction, 24 x 18 x 2 1/4"
Ron Isaacs, One Thing After Another, acrylic on birch plywood construction, 6 x 26 1/2 x 2 1/2"
Ron Isaacs, Warblers, acrylic on birch plywood construction, 44 1/2 x 24 x 4 1/2"
Ron Isaacs, Oakbox, acrylic on birch plywood construction, 12.75x12.75x2.5 in
Ron Isaacs, Sassafras, acrylic on birch plywood construction, 7 1/8 x 3 3/4 in, SOLD
Ron Isaacs, Oakleaf Hydrangea with False Vein Pattern, acrylic on birch plywood construction, 4.5x3.75 in
Ron Isaacs, Oaklet, acrylic on birch plywood construction, 3 x 2 3/8 in
Ron Isaacs, White Oak with Accessories, acrylic on birch plywood construction, 2.75x4 in
artist info
Ron Isaacs was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and studied art at Berea College in Kentucky before attending Indiana University, where he received his MFA in painting. He has exhibited nationally in museums such as the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian, the Kohler Arts Center, the Denver Art Museum, the National Museum of American Art, the Phoenix Art Museum, the Fuller Craft Museum, the Southern Ohio Museum, and the Columbus Museum of Art. The work of Ron Issacs is included in many public and private collections, including the Racine Art Museum, the Kohler Arts Center, the Huntsville Museum of Art, the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, American Express, Chase Manhattan Bank, AT&T, and the McDonalds Corporation.
Ron Isaacs’ constructions of Finnish birch plywood are meticulously sculpted and brought to life with acrylic paints in the hyper-realistic trompe l’oeil style, resulting in a beautiful harmony between painting and sculpture. His subjects are combinations of vintage clothing, plant materials and found objects bearing some patina of time, all rendered in wood and paint. The illusionary aspect of the work is not the primary goal, but a means toward a strong and evocative image. Isaacs has described his works as “visual poems,” gently illustrative, suggestively metaphoric, and wonderfully mysterious.
“My three recurring subjects are vintage clothing, plant materials, and found objects bearing some patina of time. I combine imagery to explore visual ideas and to suggest metaphors for the relationships of human life and nature, for memory, and the passage of time. I intend the content of the work to be as open-ended and evocative as possible.
My works stand exactly halfway between painting and sculpture. They take the form of elaborate relief constructions of Finnish birch plywood painted in acrylics in a trompe l’oeil (‘fool the eye’) manner. Trompe l’oeil devices provide the authority of direct observation, and I enjoy the fusion and confusion of real and illusory form. I am enamored with the old simple discovery of resemblance, that an object or image made of one material can share the outward appearance and therefore some of the “reality” of another.” -Ron Isaacs