Fine artist Dennis Ryan, Pennsylvania, USA
By order of an inner driving force, something he cannot fight, Dennis Ryan is a conceptual fine artist. He paints, draws and prints about psychological disorders (i.e. anxiety, phobias, depression, mainly focused on OCD — obsessive compulsive disorder).
Conceptual fine artist Dennis Ryan, with painting titled Sensational, outside his studio in Philadelphia, PA.
Why paint about these mental disorders? The artist is raising awareness about how debilitating mental illness can be and because he finds them profoundly interesting! Don't you? For the mind controls every aspect of our bodies and without healthy minds... we are a bit screwed.
As an up and coming fine artist, Dennis creates his fine art in a studio that's located in the land where the Amish buggies roll. He finds plenty of inspiration to create art and paint from the cow filled, countryside pastures on the western outskirts of Philadelphia, PA. 
He grew up on the south side of Easton, Pennsylvania. His art skills noticeably started to develop in his early childhood years. He moved away from his hometown his freshman year in high school, and with that move, consequently lost a good many of his lifelong friendships. In solitude, his focus turned central to art.
At age 18 he entered the military. Ryan chose this nontraditional path for an artist to help right his life's direction, and to get money for secondary education through the GI Bill. While in the Navy, even though his drill sergeants and Chief Petty Officers tried to strip his individuality, Ryan continued to express himself and create artwork at every opportunity. In boot camp, he was chosen to paint the company flag, and then also to paint a wall mural in the Naval Hospital on base. Once on the ship, he even graffiti stenciled his job symbol — of a Gunner Mate Missile Tech — onto the back of his military uniform jacket, surprisingly without consequence.
After the military, he went on to fine art studies from PCA&D (Pennsylvania College of Art & Design) in downtown Lancaster, PA, and then on to Millersville University in Millersville, PA where he completed his bachelors degree in the arts with honors. He now resides in a county on the outer edge of Philly. This home base affords easy striking distance to many art galleries in central Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pa.
Dennis is creative by nature and has a passion for drawing, printmaking and painting. With artworks on permanent display in Great Lakes, IL, Easton, PA, and Newport, RI, he approaches the creation of his art with a focus on line, shape and color. The art's concept is vital to his work... after all he is a conceptual artist. He likes to experiment with how line can define itself in the form of the written word, like a signature, and also how the same line can encapsulate and create form. Silhouettes are a recurring theme in Ryan's fine art as he enjoys their presence and ambiguity.
Medium of choice
This conceptual artist sometimes uses just about anything that is in reach to paint with and paint on, but prefers to use acrylics on wood as they usually take as much abuse as he can put out. In rare cases he'll pull out the old paint gun, small paint rollers, self-cut plastic stencils, vinyl, masking tape, shoe strings and he always seem to find a use for Windex® and Isopropyl alcohol. He frames some of the finished wood pieces with 1/4 - 1/2 inch industry standard white PVC; it seems to fits the OCD consistent theme.
What is conceptual fine art?
Conceptual art is a form of art in which the idea and the process by which it is made and presented take precedence over the finished piece. In fact, the artwork's idea is more important than its execution. In at nutshell, Dennis is not painting pretty pictures to make sales or to match your couch. Aesthetic attention is there, but it takes a backseat to the concepts.
Dennis Ryan artwork facts: conceptual art — paintings, prints & drawings
- Currently is working on an integration of faith (or lack there of) into his mental struggle concepts.
- Paintings live mostly in the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania).
- This art is receiving exponentially increasing interest — on a global scale — from private collectors, galleries, psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health societies, students and psychological disorder suffers alike.
- Check global search rankings — type these phrases into your favorite search engine and see:
- "Dennis Ryan"
- "paintings about psychological disorders"
- "OCD art"
- "conceptual fine artist"
- "up and coming fine artist"
- etc., etc., etc.
- Page 1 rankings are bringing this conceptual art huge amounts of attention on an international scale. Tens of thousands of viewers annually are being introduced to fine art that deals with anxiety, OCD, phobias and psychological disorders.
What is obsessive compulsive disorder?
OCD defined: From answers.com - obsessive-compulsive disorder (?b¦ses·iv k?m'p?l·siv dis'örd·?r) (psychology) A type of anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent, persistent, unwanted, and unpleasant thoughts (obsessions) or repetitive, purposeful, ritualistic behaviors that the person feels driven to perform (compulsions). Abbreviated OCD.
About OCD: by Phillip W. Long, M.D. - Either obsessions or compulsions: Obsessions as defined by: Recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced, at some time during the disturbance, as intrusive and inappropriate and that cause marked anxiety or distress the thoughts, impulses, or images are not simply excessive worries about real-life problems the person attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts, impulses, or images, or to neutralize them with some other thought or action the person recognizes that the obsessional thoughts, impulses, or images are a product of his or her own mind (not imposed from without as in thought insertion)
Compulsions as defined by (1) and (2):
- Repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand washing, ordering, checking) or mental acts (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently) that the person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession, or according to rules that must be applied rigidly
- The behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing distress or preventing some dreaded event or situation; however, these behaviors or mental acts either are not connected in a realistic way with what they are designed to neutralize or prevent or are clearly excessive At some point during the course of the disorder, the person has recognized that the obsessions or compulsions are excessive or unreasonable. Note: This does not apply to children.
The obsessions or compulsions cause marked distress, are time consuming (take more than 1 hour a day), or significantly interfere with the person's normal routine, occupational (or academic) functioning, or usual social activities or relationships. If another Axis I disorder is present, the content of the obsessions or compulsions is not restricted to it (e.g., preoccupation with food in the presence of an Eating Disorder; hair pulling in the presence of Trichotillomania; concern with appearance in the presence of Body Dysmorphic Disorder; preoccupation with drugs in the presence of a Substance Use Disorder; preoccupation with having a serious illness in the presence of Hypochondriasis; preoccupation with sexual urges or fantasies in the presence of a Paraphilia; or guilty ruminations in the presence of Major Depressive Disorder). The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition.
Specify if: With Poor Insight: if, for most of the time during the current episode the person does not recognize that the obsessions and compulsions are excessive or unreasonable.
Other psychological disorders and mind diseases Dennis is currently researching
Concepts that may end up in Ryan's future fine art: Acute Stress, Agoraphobia, Alzheimer's Disease, Antisocial Personality, Anxiety, Asperger's Syndrome, Bipolar, Cyclothymic, Dementia, Depression, Dissociative Identity, Drug Addiction, Dysthymic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety (GAD), Munchausen Syndrome, Narcissistic Personality, Panic, Paranoia, Parkinson's Disease, Post-Traumatic Stress, Schizophrenia, Selective Mutism, Social Anxiety Disorder.