RYAN! Feddersen

RYAN! Feddersen [Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (Okanogan / Arrow Lakes)] is a mixed-media installation artist specializing in interactive and immersive artworks that invite the viewer to engage both intellectually and creatively. Her tongue-in-cheek humor invites the audience to engage with the irrationalities and hypocrisies of contemporary American culture.

Raised in Wenatchee, Washington, Feddersen draws on the indigenous traditions of performance, communal / experiential practice, and social engagement. Her work investigates ways of creating content through the intrinsic or connotative properties of materials paired with imagery and action. She views art as a way to orient ourselves within culture and society. As she writes, “By pairing superficially light-hearted activities with underlying challenges to the status quo, the participants are enabled to have a non-threatening experience that invites personal introspection.”

Fedderson exhibits nationally, and is the recipient of a 2017 Artist in Residence Award from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She attended the Cornish College of the Arts, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2009, graduating Magna Cum Laude with concentrations in painting, print art, drawing and sculpture.

The more artists I meet like myself, mixed-race tribal members who struggle with authenticity, self-representation, and the perceived value of their voice, the more important I feel that it is for people to keep pushing the boundaries, to keep honoring the legacy of innovation in our culture and representing all aspects of their lives, including demonstrating cultural heritage, referencing colonial histories and relating it all to our contemporary influences and struggles.

~ RYAN! Feddersen