Discover Abstract Symbolism in Art
My story
Who am I?
My name is Ralph L. Brown III, a Tucson based visual artist creating introspective abstract expressionist paintings and illustrations. I was born in Baltimore City and raised in Reisterstown, Maryland during the 1980s. A self-taught artist since the age of seven, I participated in the gifted arts programs throughout grade school and won my first public competition — sponsored by the Peabody Institute — in 1991. In 1993 I began my professional art career as a caricaturist and freelance artist. My current series of original paintings, titled ‘Monochromatic Fracture,’ explores the concept of identity: how it is constructed, fractured under pressure, and consciously rebuilt. Original artworks are available for purchase and also as fine art prints.
How did I get here?
From 1993 to 2004, I worked professionally as a caricaturist at The historic Harbor Place in Baltimore City, Maryland. A discipline that demands extraordinary observational precision. Drawing thousands of faces in real time, I honed the ability to strip away surface detail and locate the essential truth of a persons ego. Interestingly, I began to find myself unintentionally incorporating personal experiences or ideas into the drawings of my subjects, all information that my subjects had never shared prior to sitting for me.
This unexpected insight left my clients and myself stunned, not just by the visual likeness but also by the intimate accuracy of the unseen information rendered on paper. Over the years as I matured and expanded artistically in skill and creative expression I would explore and practice the full range of disciplines from Realism in figures and landscape to Mannerism, Impressionism, Surrealism, Abstract, to currently Abstract Expressionism. Now my creative journey continues in my efforts to chart the universally shared journey of the human psyche or ego, interpreted through Abstract Expressionist paintings.
Deconstructing & Rebuilding
These recurring experiences of what I am calling “psychic extraction” directly contradicted my understanding and religious beliefs at the time—beliefs shaped by years of deep immersion in organized faith, followed by a rigorous dismantling of inherited religious dogma. This tension became a catalyst for my evolution as an Abstract Expressionist Painter. I began to critically question man-made spiritual frameworks against the evidence of natural phenomena, concluding that narrowing one's attention to a clearly defined focus opens within the mind a channel to awareness beyond ordinary physical perception. This understanding informs both the spiritual and psychological dimensions of my work, which is particularly evident in my deliberate minimalist compositions. My current body of work, titled; ‘The Monochromatic Fracture Series’, I predominantly work with acrylic paint on canvas and conduct studies with oil pastel on paper highlighting physical texture and color to chart the psychological arc from constructed identity through fracture to conscious self-reconstruction—asking the questions most of us are afraid to answer honestly. These original paintings and art prints reflect my journey and invite you to explore introspectively on your own egotistical development.