Photo by Katie Springer
Andrew Myers’ animation series takes shape during residency
Exploring the concepts of coexistence, human/wildlife conflict and the conservation and preservation of wild places and creatures is at the core of Andrew Myers’ work, which is drawing-based with elements of installation, printmaking, sculpture and animation.
He came to his residency at the ranch with the intention of continuing an animation series he’d begun. His process starts with doing large-format drawings, and as he works, he thinks about the movement depicted within them. Myers had done a residency at PMRCAA three years ago and wanted to return because he thought it would be a particularly appropriate and inspiring place considering his subject matter.
“This series really fit with the ranch and this apex predator kind of thing,” said Myers, who grew up in the mountains of northeastern Oregon and whose stepfather was a wildlife biologist. “I’m seeing the kind of things that I’m thinking about—where ranchers and other people are dealing with animals such as wolves in a non-lethal way. In trying to be creative that way, being right on the ranch just puts me physically in that headspace. I can look out and I can see fences and fields, horses, coyotes.”
Beyond the ranch, Myers’ residency also included connecting with High Desert Museum Curator of Wildlife Jon Nelson to further inform the artist’s work around predators and issues around the reintroduction of wolves to the West. The artist has favored focusing on coyotes in his work previously. He also teaches at Oregon State University in Corvallis, and brought with him to Sisters a new trail cam, hoping to place it somewhere on the ranch and capture some footage of this wild canine.
He’s looking forward to an open studio at the ranch in which a small group of guests will be invited toward the end of the residency. “I always like to do that and have people come in and see the work in progress. I just think it’s interesting. Like when I see students’ work—I think it’s cool to share that.”
Myers’ innovative, collaborative work included a project last year with the music department of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As part of a virtual concert performance of Franz Schubert’s “Winterreise,” Myers illustrated the song cycle in real-time while UNC faculty member Marc Callahan and guest artist Keiko Sekino performed on piano. The project subsequently traveled to Japan and England, and had five different collaborating artists and pianists.
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Andrew Myers received his undergraduate art degree from Eastern Oregon University and an MFA in drawing and painting from Portland State University. Myers is a founding member of Gray Space, a group of Oregon artists based in the Corvallis, Eugene and Roseburg areas who came together in 2016 to claim agency and circumvent institutional structures. Myers exhibitions include the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Eugene; Soil Gallery, Seattle; Rodgers Gallery, Willamette University, Salem, and Fairbanks Gallery at Oregon State University.
He was awarded a Career Opportunity Grant from the Oregon Arts Commission and the Ford Family Foundation in 2020 to travel, create work in residence and install an exhibition in the Slovak Republic. Myers is also part of the viewing program at the Drawing Center in New York.
