Boise artist creates surreal art

Ryan Furniss is one of Boise’s premier new artists, though few people know it yet.

His innovative, surrealistic paintings provide a refreshing alternative to our town’s run-of-the-mill bodies of work, although they are difficult to label. The most immediate reaction would be to lump him in with Dali and assume that Furniss took his cues from that surrealist’s work.

In fact, his knowledge of the Spanish artist has been limited to Dali’s famous melting clock painting, The Persistence of Memory.

“I didn’t even know who he was until a couple of years ago. It kind of shows how art-ignorant I’ve been throughout the whole process,” Furniss said.

A lack of formal training has done Furniss more good than harm. His work is certainly his own – individualistic in a world that is often tainted by too much exposure to other art.

Furniss began his artistic life in high school, starting with pencil drawings and moving on to painting. He began painting portraits and then became interested in landscapes.

His art has mellowed over the years, going from busy, packed canvases to more focused images. All are surreal and strange and inevitably interesting to look at.

What is most endearing about Furniss is his lack of pretension.

Often shy about his work, he isn’t in it for the big meaning or high concept, which are more often than not contrived by the artist to satisfy the public or make it look like they’re actually doing something worthwhile.

“That’s something that’s really overdone now, instead of getting back to the art,” Furniss said.

“A buddy of mine told me that when he went to school in Alfred, NY, that one of the guys peed in 10 zip-lock bags and hung it up on the wall and that’s … I don’t know. I guess some people can get away with it, but that’s not really art.”

For Furniss it is more about being close to the art, putting down something that is first and foremost visual.

“People are always trying to get into the deep inner meaning. I really don’t know what to say about any of my art. Most of it’s more of just a collage of images than anything; there’s no real idea behind it when I start,” he said.

“I start painting and, whatever comes to mind, I just throw it in there. Why can’t I throw this guy in here and make him this color? I don’t want to do the pristine meadow with the cabin and the broken picket fence.”

A great deal of Furniss’s material comes from religion and mythology, like the zodiac or tree of life, which are featured in two of his works. His wife is also a big motivation, Furniss said.

He draws from memory and still life, collecting images from books and magazines.

His current medium of choice is acrylic paint, the colors of which he uses to their full effect.

“I like to use a lot of colors. It seems that a lot of art that is out right now tends to be duller in nature – not that it’s less remarkable, it’s just nice to be able to use a lot of color,” he said.

Furniss’s paintings were featured in “Project Limbo,” a recent invitational art show, and have also been shown at the Boise Caf

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