Artist Troy Ramos Unveils "Connections" at ArtHop
Since Detroit-based artist Troy Ramos moved back to Michigan a few years ago, he hasn’t wasted much time connecting his work to the arts communities here. He works with sound, light and video, creating experiences in artistic spaces he refers to as: “..kind of the art work itself”. On March 1, he’ll premiere another new work at ArtHop in Kalamazoo, MI. This new work is a sound and light installation called Connections.
”I create works which function like contemporary art that you can walk into,” says Ramos. “The experience of having a full body and mind interaction with the art is, in some ways, the art work itself. This artwork, Connections, creates a sense of timelessness for observers. The work will be in its own room, with a visual display of minimalist lights and a new sound-art work playing on speakers throughout the room. The space itself is a big part of the experience. “
Ramos’s work is often about creating calm, reflective environments which allow us to question how we think of art and existence. For this new work, Connections, visitors are encouraged to use this space however they wish and to stay for as long as necessary. This work is about the interaction with art being the art itself, in many ways. It's a platform for visitors to experience themselves and the universes around them.
The sound and visuals for this project are created, organized, curated and implemented by the artist Troy Ramos. This is a new art work and will be premiered at opening night at ArtHop on March 1, 2019 at 225 Rose St. in downtown Kalamazoo. This space will have numerous other artists showing work throughout the building.
About the Artist
TROY RAMOS (b. 1975)
Detroit, Michigan
BA: Western Michigan University ('04), Music & German
MA: University of York in UK, Music Composition ('08)
Troy Ramos is an artist, composer and curator based in Detroit, Michigan. He’s also the founder of ArtHouse 43. He creates sound, light and video installations and has had his work shown across the US. He has received numerous grants and awards. Most recently he received the KADL Grant from the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo for his sound and light installation Connections, which opened at ArtHop in Kalamazoo. He was also recently the recipient of the $5,000 Pitch Night Detroit Award from ArtPrize for his sound and light installation Sound Space, which premiered at ArtPrize 10.
Mr. Ramos earned his MA in Music Composition from the University of York (England) in 2008. Since then he has worked in artistic spaces and also releases sound works on iTunes, Amazon and Bandcamp www.troyramos.bandcamp.com.
Artist Statement:
I am an artist, composer and curator. I'm aiming to create non-directional works with a sense of timelessness. Without the need to be somewhere, the works are free. They are allowed to be themselves, allowed to be anywhere and nowhere.
My works almost have no ending and no beginning. They are part of a loop, just like myself. Everything I create is part of a continuous process. And any idea I have, any work I present, is just a small part of a larger work. And so each individual work also functions as a departure point toward some other idea.
I create sound works because I want to confront silence. These sound ideas are like objects that I transform into something completely new, or into familiar objects that are being described in a different way. And I present these works as albums, or with light or video installations, which I create so that observers can sit in the spaces I’ve constructed and experience themselves and the universe around them, hopefully in a thoughtful way. How listeners experience my works is up to them, of course. In time, the works hopefully become clearer.
I do not project meanings onto my artworks. They have their own meaning: themselves. I intentionally avoid the literal because I want to maintain a level of abstraction, always. I don’t wanna break the fiction, I don’t want to tell anyone. I want to live in the story and imagine. Everyone’s different, of course. But I’m looking for more articulate moments of my own, and this is reflected in how I perceive and approach creating my own works.