New York State of Mind

Fresno State graduate and New York resident Ronald Dzerigian brings his unique style and perceptions to his artwork

By Mitchell Peters

When he speaks, you listen, when he paints, you respond and when he smiles, you have no choice but to smile back. This is the mystery behind Ronald Dzerigian and his art.

In the heart of Fresno’s Tower District sits a small coffee shop where Ronald relaxes drinking hot mint tea. He’s trying to recover from a sore throat and exhausting car drives back and forth from Los Angeles. He’s dressed in a red hat with a Smokey the Bear logo, a brown corduroy jacket and a blue T-shirt that reads, “Brooklyn needs more penguins.”

He’s tired, but his eyes still show vibrancy and childlike innocence.

As one of Fresno’s most well-known and respected painters, Ronald reminisces on the past week of preparing for his first formal gallery show in a big city.

“ I’m in postpartum depression,” Ronald said. “I’m sort of in limbo right now.”

In the last month he has painted morning and night in a downtown Fresno studio, sang with former Fresno band American Sloth and charmed the many friends who worship the ground he walks on.

He’s excited, fatigued and anxious to get back to New York (his place of residence) so he can begin painting again.

It’s only a few days after the opening reception for his latest art exhibit which features eight large paintings with the theme of backwards written fortune cookie messages and organic shapes taken from his subconscious and random children’s books.

“ I want you to feel as if you’re standing behind it, or inside of it in a way,” Ronald said. “I want people to feel like they’re tiny inside of this big thing. Like a box of windows.”

Due to his fascination with fortune cookies, Ronald decided to combine his love of Chinese food with his artistic expression.

“ Ever since I was a little kid I’d save my fortune cookie messages,” he said.

Having almost 200 messages saved in storage and carrying more than 15 in his wallet, Ronald decided which messages he would use by remembering the situations in which he obtained them.

“ It’s an age-old idea I’ve had,” he said.

Like his words, Ronald’s art is very profound, but carries a simple message. His latest work, however, streams off from his normal creations. In the past, Ronald’s work focused more on recycled materials, pieces of wood and objects people had thrown away.

“ The paintings in this series are more like tapestries, whereas my paintings in the past were more like pieces of wall because they’re on wood,” Ronald said.

In his artist’s statement found on his Web site, Ronald says, “My approach is an intuitive one. The content of each painting or installation develops during the time that I am working and often references my childhood, our inherent sexuality and/or everyday instances,” he said.

The 27-year-old Brooklyn based artist left Fresno to pursue his dream of painting full-time almost a year ago. In that time, he has hung out with rock stars, worked several odd jobs and drank many cups of coffee.

Ronald graduated from Fresno State in 2002 with a degree in art in hopes of painting or someday teaching in the field of art. He has held gallery exhibitions in New York, at Fresno State and the Fresno Art Museum, where he also formerly worked.

After playing bass guitar in bands such as The Beauties, The Sleepover Disaster and The Panty Lions, while also being a published poet, Ronald realized his only true passion lay in painting.

“ Painting combines music and poetry into one visual,” Ronald said. “It combines all my enjoyment and pleasure into imagery.”

Ronald’s art is also influenced by the music he listens to while painting. For his latest series, he listened to the music of his friends in the band Earlimart, Grandaddy and the late Elliot Smith. He sees music in the form of shapes, which then transcend into his painting he said.

While taking a rest and staying with friends for the next month in Los Angeles, Ronald is anxious to start working again when he arrives back to New York. Although he hasn’t started thinking about his next project, his brain is always conjuring ideas.