Ryan WilksRyan Wilks is a self-taught artist who works predominantly in the medium of oil paints. Major themes in his work centralize on issues of gender and sexual identity. His use of wild colors (and understanding of tonal value) has been influenced by the orks of Paul Gauguin and Wayne Thiebaud. While traveling across the country and cultivating a less conventional education, he has developed working relationships with artists in Chicago, San Francisco, and Kansas City, which helped shape his decision to focus on the expressive and emotional honesty of portraiture. Read More Read Less