RIVER WINTERMANTEL

Bio

River Wintermantel is an artist who resides in Pittsburgh, PA. While he explores all media freely, he works primarily with acrylic paint. Wintermantel’s work is a self-reflection on childhood memories, transgender identity, and exposes the cruelty behind the transphobic ideology so heavily pushed. He began his professional art career as a student at the Columbiana County Career and Technical Center, where he obtained 3 Adobe certificates. He obtained his BFA in Fine Art from The Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, and has exhibited his work in the Collectively Charged exhibition at the Demuth in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the 2026 Senior Show at The Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, and the Senior Exhibition at The Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.

Artist Statement

As a transgender artist whose voice is actively being erased, my work portrays topics of forced femininity and the familial unacceptance that comes along with my identity. By making direct references to my childhood in using my baby photos, the color pink, and Internet meme formats, I can weave together two crucial parts of my identity: being transgender and internet culture.By using paint and utilizing brush stroke, my work challenges the anti-trans discourse commonly present in online spaces. Showing the viewers intimate moments of my life through baby photos and highlighting the humor in the absurd stereotypes of transgender people allows those narratives to be pushed and broken. In a time where we are actively being villainized, showing our humanity is a key part of my work