His Medium

His Process…

Ron Fortier’s practice has evolved through cycles of engagement, withdrawal, and return. While in graduate school, he began exploring historical episodes of social injustice, confronting difficult narratives that carried significant emotional weight. The intensity of that work ultimately led him away from representation and back to abstraction, where he immersed himself in the disciplined language of Abstract Expressionism.

During this period, Fortier approached painting as a form of practice—repetitive, rigorous, and searching—much like a musician working through scales. He sought to strip away narrative and, for a time, even emotion, focusing instead on gesture, movement, and the internal logic of each painting itself.

In 2019, a return to personal history shifted the direction of his work once again. Drawing from a family story of an enslaved ancestor and the loss of her daughters, Fortier began to re-engage with narrative. Around this time, he encountered Philip Guston’s work, whose own transition from abstraction to figuration offered a compelling parallel. This moment marked a turning point, prompting Fortier to explore a more direct, socially conscious expression.

A pivotal work, Le Préfère, a portrait of his father, aligned these two trajectories. In this painting, Fortier began integrating the gestural force and material sensitivity of his abstract practice with a renewed commitment to image and narrative. The result was a more expansive visual language—one capable of holding both abstraction and figuration, instinct and intention, personal memory and broader historical resonance.

This evolving approach continues to shape his work. His paintings are built through layering, revision, and response—allowing meaning to emerge over time rather than be imposed at the outset. Throughout, acrylic on stretched canvas remains his primary medium, offering both immediacy and flexibility as he navigates the space between what is revealed and what remains just beneath the surface.