Sally Rayn
“Colors, color harmonies, shapes of nature, and stream of consciousness are what inspire me.”
It is this inspiration that Sally Rayn brings to dynamic symbolism, a new abstract art form that invites you as the viewer to interact both intuitively and intellectually with her images. Dynamic symbolism is not like other art forms, which encourage you to interpret the artist’s intent. Dynamic symbolism invites you to find and interpret the meaning of unique forms in the artist’s work. In this new form of art, beauty changes over time since it truly is in the eye of the beholder.
Rayn’s work flows from her stream of consciousness guided by intuition and a sense of balance to connect forms and colors. “I only pay attention to the execution, Rayn says. “The subject matter reveals itself only when the painting is almost done.”
Artists who influence her work include the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky. His theories of Color Harmony and Constructivism can be seen in her compositions. She also is influenced by expressionist painters Franz Marc and Paul Klee and the performance artist Judy Chicago.
Not surprisingly, Rayn is her art. “Now that my children are adults, my identity as an artist and the benefits of having an artistic purpose in life lead my decision making,” she emphasizes. She believes that anyone willing to commit the time to artistic creation can develop an artistic voice and style. Sitting down and doing it is the hard part, in her experience.
Early influences
Rayn had the advantage of traveling the world, which provided her with a broad and international education. She spent her childhood near Washington DC, in Johannesburg, South Africa, and later in Southern California. She graduated from Stanford University after studying German, Spanish, Russian, art history and contemporary politics. Her studies included a year in Berlin surrounded by the Berlin Wall. There she first encountered C. G. Jung and his ideas about the collective unconscious and archetypes, and Kandinsky’s writing “On the Spiritual in Art.”
With her worldview, Rayn believes that the role of the artist in society is to stretch human consciousness and self perceptions. “Artists should reflect the soul of their times and have a broad understanding of their society,” she says. “Art must have a relationship with the rest of the world.”
