Artist Biography

Sally Rayn founded the Dynamic Symbolism art movement while a student at Stanford University.  Rayn paints Abstract paintings, monochromatic or in vivid color, that tell stories of imagery and symbols: interpretations needing more than one viewer to construct. Pastels and charcoal on paper has developed into acrylic on canvas, video art and web app touch screen interactions. Video editing and animation more deeply illustrate the symbols and archetypes that viewers see in Rayn's art.

 

Best Grant: Gottlieb Foundation Individual Artist Support Grant: $25,000 for creating Art.

Favorite Job: Design and set lights and direct cameras for live broadcasts of West Coast Songwriter's Competitions from the Midpen Media Center.

Highest Award: Alliance for Community Media: Hometown Media Award 2017 for the Talk Art television interview of Rayn by her daughter, Sienna Beckman. Topic: Art and Technology

 

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman:

First Grade started in near Washington, D.C., continued on the coast of Los Angeles and ended in Johannesburg, South Africa, where Rayn became multilingual in European languages and heard African rhythms and harmonies. The fabulously colored walls of the Transkei rondavels, game reserves and tapestry designs informed her color sensitivities. Her parents introduced her to museums in Africa, South America, Europe, Asia over the course of 6 years.

 

Reading list:

The Hobbit…then Aristophanes, Plato, Virginia Wolf, Goethe, Der Blaue Reiter Gruppe and Celtic based fantasy novels for fun at Stanford. C. G. Jung auf Deutsch in a beautiful library in Berlin. Books of European history that Neal Stephenson brought to life in The Baroque Trilogy. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver describes Rayn's dedication to nutritious food and healthy ecosystems.

 

Practical Roots:

SITN: switching cameras for live broadcasts of Stanford Engineering and CS courses. In Munich and Paris Rayn visited Kandinsky and Franz Marc painting collections. In Leningrad she met a young woman artist. Together they shared food, spoke Russian/sign language and saw Monet at the Hermitage. Adobe Creative Cloud tools learned in useful detail at the Editor's Retreat, NAB and Adobe MAX.

 

Personal Details:

Sally Rayn raised 2 children in the forests west of Palo Alto and learned to love teaching and community organizing. Her artistic vision expanded on long trails overlooking the Pacific. Rayn's Art studio is now conveniently connected to the internet in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco.