Veronica Ryan OBE (b. 1956, Plymouth, Montserrat) creates meticulously handcrafted work using a wide range of materials, including bronze, plaster, marble, textile, and found objects. Her sculptures and installations examine environmental concerns, personal narratives and memories, as well as the wider psychological implications of history, trauma and recovery. Ryan’s first one-person exhibition was at Arnolfini, Bristol in 1987. Other important one-person shows have been presented at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge (1988); Camden Arts Centre (1995); Aldrich Museum (1996); Salena Gallery, Brooklyn (2005); Tate St Ives (2000, 2005 and 2017); The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh (2011); The Art House, Wakefield, Yorkshire, England (2017); and Spike Island, Bristol (2021). In June 2020, Hackney Council commissioned Ryan to create sculptures celebrating Hackney’s Windrush Generation—the first permanent public artworks to do so in the UK—which were unveiled in October 2021. In 2022, Ryan was included in the Whitney Biennial and awarded the Turner Prize. Her work is in public collections including the Arts Council Collection, Contemporary Art Society, Sainsbury’s Collection, Tate Collection, The Hepworth Wakefield, and the Weltkunst Collection at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Ryan currently lives and works in both New York and the U.K.
Veronica Ryan
Entangle/Disentanglement, 2017-2022
fossilized coral, bandage, bronze, crocheted fishing line, sculpy, tea stained hydrocal, thread, Portuguese pink marble, hair net, pin cushion, pins, stainless steel hook and metal
dimensions variable
shelf: 3 x 48 x 12 in. (7.6 x 121.9 x 30.5 cm)
Veronica Ryan
Clustered (Magnoliageae), 2021
9 Bronze Magnolia pods, fishing line, screw
24 x 4 x 4 in. (61 x 10.2 x 10.2 cm)
Veronica Ryan
Celebration, 2002-2003
photographic print and acrylic on card stock
8 x 13 in. (20.3 x 33 cm); frame: 10 1/8 x 15 x 1 1/4 in. (25.7 x 38.1 x 3.2 cm)
Veronica Ryan
Magnolia/Magnoliaceae, 2021
mixed media
dimensions variable
Commissioned by The Hepworth Wakefield as part of the exhibition Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life, 2021-2022
Photo: Lewis Ronald. Courtesy The Hepworth Wakefield.
Veronica Ryan
Pouch, 2020
red netting containing stitched dried orange peels, black thread
5 1/2 x 7 7/8 x 6 3/8 in. (14 x 20 x 16 cm)
Photo: Max McClure. Courtesy Spike Island, Bristol.
Veronica Ryan
In Extremis, Obliterate, Oblivions, 1998
acrylic and ink print on paper
8 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (21.6 x 14 cm)
Veronica Ryan
Slade, 1980
Kaffir-D plaster, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, seeds, thread, wood
approx. 50 x 12 x 6 in. (127 x 30.4 x 15.2 cm)
Veronica Ryan
Veronica Ryan: Salvage, Freelands Foundation, London, June 27 - August 11, 2019
Photo: Peter Mallet Photography.
Veronica Ryan
Liminal Spaces, Feathers In Her Head, Sewing Seeds 2, 2019
as installed in "Portable Sculpture," Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, U.K., February - August, 2021.
Photo: John McKenzie.
Veronica Ryan
Punnet I, 2020
dyed thread doily, stacked cardboard mushroom boxes, yellow stone casts
6 x 19 5/8 x 19 5/8 in. (15 x 50 x 50 cm)
Photo: Max McClure. Courtesy Spike Island, Bristol
Veronica Ryan
Arrangement In Layers, Stacking Up Moments I-X, 2016-2019
recycled avocado trays, seeds, dark blue and orange wool and cotton crochet, metal, dimensions variable
Collection: Tate Modern
Veronica Ryan
Luminescence, 2018
plastic bottles, net, thread
7 x 11 x 9 in. (17.8 x 27.9 x 22.9 cm)
Veronica Ryan
Untitled, 1977-78
plaster, metal, wood
approx. 5 ft. x 4 ft. x 19 in.
Bath Academy of Art, Corsham Court
Veronica Ryan
Protectors, 2017
individual hand-quilted dyed pillows (blush with red), adapted steel industrial shelving (orange), thread
50 x 23 5/8 x 16 1/4 in. (127 x 60 x 41 cm)
Photo: Jules Lister. Courtesy The Art House, Wakefield.
