Ralph Wiegmann, a first generation German-American, was born and raised in the mid-west. As a teenager, he studied violin, painting, drawing and ceramics at Interlochen Arts Academy. After three years as an undergrad in Geology, he transferred to The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design to pursue his passion for art.
After his second year at MIAD, he moved to San Francisco to focus on fine art at The Academy of Art College. There he received his BFA in Painting, Drawing and Printmaking in 1988. After several years working in the Bay-Area as an illustrator, designer and set builder, while continuing to develop his fine art, Ralph moved to Missoula, Montana to continue his studies in painting and drawing as a Graduate student at The University of Montana. There he received his MFA in Painting and Drawing in 1998. He currently lives in Bozeman, Montana with his wife, artist Suzanne Truman.
My current work is a response to the concept of the passage of time, fleeting and geologic, to the tenuous perception of things continuous or whole, and the elements that create these illusions. It is manifested in line and pattern, color and tone, single to multiple surfaces. It is further expressed in the physical act of mark-making and immersion in the moment of this response. The depiction of imagery that suggests continuity and wholeness, particularly in my water series, is resolved in a contrasting manner by the use of a grid format with spacing to inspire discussion as to what connotes the ideas or impressions of wholeness, continuity and community.
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