His Medium

His Process…

Ron Fortier began exploring historical episodes of social injustice while in graduate school. The emotional toll of these painful subjects forced him to abandon the genre and return to abstract expressionism. He focused on painting his abstracts as musicians practice their musical scales. He believed he could do it without emotion, or sang froid.

In late 2019, during the pandemic, he began a painting series based on a family story about an enslaved ancestor whose daughters were sold away from her. He read an article about Phillip Guston and, inspired, began a similar journey focusing on objective narrative as a socially conscious expressionist.

While doing a painting of his father called Le Prefere, a pivotal piece, he incorporated both the techniques he employed during his abstract expressionist period and his new figurative approach. Combining abstract gestures and mark-making with his new expressionist approach enhanced the emotional and psychological reality.

The new approach captured a new and deeper understanding of the narratives and compositions he now pursues. Throughout it all, Ron’s preferred medium is acrylic on stretched canvas.