Ryan Avery Arata Fong Jae is a Korean born and U.S based artist who studied a  B.A.S. Art Practice + Computer Science at Stanford University.

When in discussion with Jae, he shared the make up the inspiration behind his current work as being the intense and often times disturbing sociopolitical climate in America. Jae delves into this by saying, “Nothing is more important to me than conveying the hopes, dreams, and struggles of those who the fine art world is not built for. I use my camera to document everything in my environment as it happens, with particular interest in the dark beauty of everyday life. For too long our America has remained unseen, fraught with so much danger it desensitizes the senses and is the only normal, but that the rest of America is happy to ignore, vilify, and distort. In Sacramento alone, our community is overrun by four different police departments that are each aggressive, insensitive, and evade accountability as they inflict trauma on young people and family units. The despair of trying to maintain day-to-day survival in a world wrought with the societal issues of every American city in these tumultuous times is overwhelming – as much as these singular points of lights in these images are beacons of hope illuminating a dramatic backdrop of enveloping tension. By appropriating these moments for aesthetic value and for documentation, there can be a collective manufacturing of the will to grasp onto hope for a better future. The layers in these images are reflective of the complexities of who and what they represent, and invite the wonderment of those who view them.”

After delving into his current inspiration, Jae took us back to his beginning by giving us a look at what drove him into the art world in the first place. “I desperately needed an escape, from loneliness and isolation and anhedonia, and photography was the conduit for me to re-engage with the world around me. It was the filling of a void in my soul and unlocked the other half of my mind. I first picked up a DSLR infatuated with a dream to photograph the Milky Way, and astrophotography was an incredible challenge to establish my technical chops. Even now, even if I'm standing in the middle of a busy street, I still carry that mentality of it just being me and my camera completely alone in the darkest of nights under a field of stars. It was natural from that point to take pictures during any hour of the day of anything happening around me, and I found my focus on the people and places I love in my hometown community.”

We moved on to discuss his use of mediums and his integration of experimentation into his practice, and Jae had this to say, “My primary practice is digital photography, but I'm especially concerned with how the presentation and manifestation of an image changes its meaning - as such, I integrate my practice with printmaking, collage, computer programming, and bookmaking and past projects have involved a baby crib, printing on cotton and crepe de chine and bulletproof ballistics plate book covers.” Jae went on further saying that when it comes to brands, he has always owned Nikon, worked in Adobe suite and prints using Epson, Jacquard Inkjet Fabric Systems, and Hahnemüle for “unique quality.”

I went on to ask Jae about his methods for overcoming a creative block and he revealed that, “Most times it seems there isn't any remedy sufficient other than distance and time, but diving into art history and inspirational works always helps build momentum to overcome a mental block. Leveraging a community of creatives is also a key resource, and for me cannabis provides a substantial creative boost (note: California is a recreational use state).”

Lastly, I asked Jae if he had any piece of advice for his fellow artists and he was happy to share his insights, “Something I learned by doing that I couldn't have otherwise was how much serendipity is the key element in the photographs I've most proud of. The inspiration to capture is almost always spontaneous, and it's crucial to be ready to go in an instant. It's a challenge that will take a lifetime to practice, and is so ephemerally elusive it's addicting to keep chasing after. Those are the moments that bring out passion in its purest form for me, such that the resulting object can carry some of the beauty of that long-gone instant.”

To view more of Ryan Jae’s work

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