An interview with Nate Ronniger

"Verner Panton's Stacking Chair" by Nate Ronniger, oil on linen, 12"x12"

Nate Ronniger is an Arizona based painter whose playful, theatrical still lifes never fail to delight the eyes. He shows with me at Wally Workman Gallery in Austin, Texas where his two-person show with Anne Ashley opens on November 7th and runs through the 28th. Not surprisingly he has been enjoying much success and recent activities include a group exhibit at the Museum of Art (BYU), a feature in American Art Collector and Desert Living Magazine. I love his work and he’s agreed to let me ask him three questions about his new paintings at Wally’s featuring portraits of miniature replicas of mid-century designer chairs. As the proud owner of an original Eames wire chair inherited from my husband’s grandmother (she used it as a sewing chair, how awesome!) this particular series tickled my fancy…

1) There’s always been a playful and witty quality in your still life paintings, and this new series is no exception. What inspired these “portraits” of designer chairs? 

I’ve always been drawn to simple, well designed things, and I wanted to paint something other than the figures I’ve been painting. So, when I discovered these miniature, designer chair replicas, I knew this would be fun series to experiment with and paint. 

2) I am noticing a brighter palette and flatter lighting, more minimalist but no less theatrical than your earlier still-lifes. Is this a new direction?

I’m glad it can be interpreted as a new direction. I definitely have the urge to take what I have done and learned in the past couple years and really do something different. If you can see a change happening with this new series, it is probably a symptom of that. I am cooking up ideas that are more obviously different. It’s important to keep challenging myself and making changes or else it begins to feel easy or formulaic. I think the designer chair series is very connected to what I have been doing in the past, but I do hope it shows some evolution towards growth as well. 

3) A lot of artists collect inspirational materials or subjects for their work. Are you a collector? 

To an extent, yes. I collect images, patterned papers and ‘toys’ that offer new ideas to what I am working on or anything I may do in the future. But I don’t hold on to things for long. I have moved a lot and you tend to become a minimalist in the process. But I will keep items until I have used the inspiration it provided.