Rutherford is the collaborative artistic endeavor of Ryan Sowers (artist name Rutherford) and Kayla Hamilton.
Ryan is a multidisciplinary artist creating enamel pins, prints, drawings, and watercolors. He earned his BFA in illustration and Minor in Art History from the University of Kansas in 2013. He was an artist-in-residence in Eutin, Germany through the Sister Cities exchange program, and worked as an in-house illustrator for EK Success Brands for 3 years before setting off on his own in 2016. He discovered the world of enamel pins while attending Electric Forest Festival, and immediately fell in love. The potential to wear, share, and collect memories and concepts made visual in such a small form is something he continues to explore with pins. Ryan’s primary mediums are digital, ink, and watercolor.
Kayla Hamilton is the glue that holds the Rutherford operations together. She provides production artist tasks such as file set-up and color palettes, as well as assisting in conceptual development, accounting, and shipping. She designed and fabricated many of the structures within their traveling Sprinter van home.
Rutherford seeks to create engaging works of art that resonate a variety of interests including science, human consciousness, transformation, and the mystery and power of nature. This is expressed through an aesthetic that blends from geometric complexity, to flowing and wild organic lines to speak to those concepts. Rutherford Art also creates interactive experiences such as scavenger hunts and charity challenges called “quests”. The work is tied together with a colorful intensity and touch of surrealism, all delighting in the strange and wonderful sensations of experiencing and celebrating life.