NCAG is pleased to present veteran artist Ricky Tavitas’ work, which can be seen at Norse Horse in Elk Horn IA until Friday, Oct. 22nd, 2021.

Artist Bio: Since childhood, Ricky Tavitas was always attracted to rich vibrant colors and designs- be it from comic books, drawings, graffiti, or pieces of apparel visible while out in the city. His interest in art began while studying graphic arts in high school where he experimented with his newfound artistic skills on various media such as, paper, glass, and digital art. After high school, Tavitas attended the highly accredited Chicago’s Columbia College School of Fine Arts where he developed advanced skills in digital design and learned how to use the latest software and technology to deliver dynamic visual communications.

Two years into his studies at Columbia, he enlisted in the United States Army. Focusing on his new career path in the military, Ricky set aside his studies in digital art, and began a new specialty as a wheeled vehicle mechanic. He served a total of 13 years and deployed to Iraq in 2009 and later Afghanistan in 2011.

Tragically in June of 2020, Ricky was involved in a civilian, non-military motor vehicle accident suffering a spinal cord injury which left him paralyzed from the neck down. Thanks to the encouragement from a trusted caregiver during his recovery at a Veteran Affairs long term care facility, Tavitas made the decision to pursue his talent in graphic design once again. Despite having no movement in his fingers or hands and limited movement in his arms, he was able to refamiliarize himself with graphic arts software and programs he learned while in college prior to his military service. With the assistive technology program called, “Smile Mouse” (a software that uses one’s laptop camera to recognize facial and head movements to relay computer commands) Ricky is once again able to command the cursor to click, drag, and scroll so that he can manifest his tremendous graphic design talent and creative vision.

By taking multiple images and manipulating them into one new and unique image, Tavitas conveys to the audience his thoughts and ideas through an elaborate, compelling visual story.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oLfkYIFukqz_n-4vuyzIwsVvEtp8RKuI/view?usp=sharing