Ryo Toyonaga

Last week I wrote about the Jordan Schnitzer Art Museum in Eugene, OR. Their current special exhibition featured contemporary artist Ryo Toyonaga.  Toyonaga's art not only complimented the Schnitzer's permanent Asian collections, but also demonstrated his particular artistic expression through a variety of mediums of visual interpretation (painting, ceramic, mixed media, etc.). His aesthetic is of a dystopian monster-like landscape with Tim Burtonesque formations and creatures. He is offering a strong commentary about cities, nature, and the conflicts between those two entities. Toyongaga is successful in using many types of materials and mediums to introduce viewers to his specific alien world of turbulent waves, tentacles, and unsettling organisms.