Buffalo Rising Online

May 6th, 2:59pm By Elena Cala Buscarino

Buffalo born artist Ralph Sirianni will have an opening reception this Friday, May 9. A student of Walter Prochownik at the University at Buffalo, Sirianni describes himself as an abstract expressionist who lives and breathes art.

Indeed, everything Ralph does is art related, but his collective endeavors run the gamut from poetic to scientific. A Marine Corp veteran himself, Sirianni's day job is that of art therapist at the Veterans Administration hospital. In keeping with sharing his art, he is also an instructor of portrait drawing through Ken-Ton Continuing Education.

On the flip side, Sirianni is a police volunteer, doing sketches of criminal suspects for the local news as well as the national television show, America's Most Wanted, when he was asked to draw a 10-year beyond composite of bike path rapist, Altimio Sanchez, based on the description of a past 14-year-old victim of Sanchez.

Employed most often in the aftermath of a sexual assault, Sirianni said, "One of the guys I sketched was caught 9 hours after the sketch hit the screens. I'm responsible for a lot of arrests. Anyone who watches local television has seen my drawings."

His studio is in his home in North Buffalo, though he's traveled far and wide to collect data and absorb the surroundings of the subjects of his paintings. "I visited the Colleseum in Rome a few times," Sirianni said, "sketching, writing. I always write about what I'm seeing."

And he watches. "I love Shakespeare's McBeth. I read and reread the book, I listened to the opera, watched the play. I like to immerse myself in the subject when I paint," he said.

"There was so much blood in Macbeth. Blood everywhere. If you look at the center of the painting, you'll see that I was influenced by the up and down thrusts of the sabers that were always being described. And the hidden image. I hide a lot of images in my paintings," Sirianni said.

The man with sons named Michael, Gabriel and Raphael is also a lover of angels, a subject that has found its way into his paintings several times over. "I did a show a while back called A Peaceful World. They were all paintings of my back yard," he said.

Therapy and crime, angels and blood, Sirianni's works are as light and dark as the worlds he inhabits on a rotating basis.

And then I found the portrait of Hendrix on his website. "Yeah, my son says I should have that printed. He thinks a lot of people might like it," Sirianni said. Everyone should listen when an angel whispers in their ear.

Recent Works By Ralph Sirianni
Art Council of Erie County
700 Main St. / Buffalo, NY 14202
716.856.7520
May 9 - June 13
Reception, May 9, 6PM