John Yerden’s artwork is a mix of philosophical and abstract ideas.

“For me, my art stems from life and the human experience,” he said. “Throughout my years of education, philosophers served to put my abstract ideas into concrete grounds through concepts such as being, consciousness, nothingness, self, infinity, malaise, and countless others. The profound nature of the human condition within the context of our sensory natural world is the foundation of all my art.”

Yerden, 23, graduated in May 2008 from Gonzaga University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. His focus was fine art comprised of design, drawing, painting, ceramics and art history. He also studied philosophy.

During his years at GU, he served as an assistant in the ceramics department, providing him with the opportunity to have extra studio hours and enabling him to fine tune his skills. Currently, he receives stipends and assists art instructor Robert Gilmore at GU where he continues to hone his skills in preparation for graduate studies in art. He also has studio space and supplies at the school.

Yerden works in charcoal and chalk as well as oil paint. His drawings are portraits filled with depth and mystery; he often leaves out parts of the face to “evoke the sense of a fleeting moment.” Done in black and white, the drawings have been called “dark” by others. “Not dark,” he said, “but ambiguous.” The portraits are a portal to the secret lives of his studies as Yerden uses live models. “When you work from a photograph, the piece ends up looking like a photograph,” he explained. He has been commissioned to create his unique style of portraiture for others.

His oil paintings incorporate surreal, abstract, symbolic and realistic imagery. “I start with symbolic shapes and apply concepts to them.” One piece entitled “Meditations on Earth” is a representation of the artist realizing an idea. His profile is illustrated in a rock formation. Added elements include circles and rays of light or inspiration. It is another world. “I generally start a piece from feelings.” He called it “action painting” or “reacting as you go.” “With art, I am a master of my own reality,” he said.

Yerden grew up on a ranch in Colorado where horses, chickens and Alpacas roamed. Artistic expression ran in his family and he found inspiration there. His family later moved to a log home in the woods of Salmon, Idaho. He drew his first picture in the first grade. It was a bald eagle. “I did lots of birds of prey. I had a knack for it,” he said.

Yerden said he’s not into “pop culture;” he rarely watches television and finds gratification in enjoying beauty and the meditative quality of creating art. He finds it amusing how students in the classes he assists in cannot sit still. “They text every 15 minutes or so.”

His goals are to stay true to himself, to develop the highest degree of craftsmanship and originality, to show on an international level, and to teach others. “Everyone has an artistic side to them. It’s a deep expression of who you are. Everyone should have that outlet.”