Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Ryan.
Born in 1983 in San Diego, California, Brittany Ryan received her formal education at the Laguna College of Art and Design. Graduating in 2005 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts, majoring in Illustration and a minor in Sculpture. After working as an illustrator for two years, Brittany began work toward her Masters of Fine Art in drawing and painting, at the same institution. In 2008 Brittany had the opportunity to study portrait painting at Florence Academy, in Florence, Italy as part of her MFA program which graduated in the spring of 2010 with an MFA from Laguna College of Art and Design.
Brittany has a strong relationship with local museums, especially the Laguna Art Museum, participating in their annual fundraising show and was a showcased artist in the Palette to Palette event. Brittany was awarded the Elizabeth Greenshields grant, a prestigious award created to support the success and development of emerging representational artists. In the spring of 2018, Brittany completed a three year long monumental sculpture project consisting of four walking figures at heroic scale cast in bronze. The sculptures are placed at the historic main campus of Laguna College of Art and Design. Brittany created the design and concept for the works and then directed her students in the execution of three of the figures final scale and then sculpted one of the figures on her own.
Brittany currently lives and works in Southern California, is periodically involved in group shows as well as being an instructor and sculpture department coordinator at Laguna College of Art + Design since 2014.
Please tell us about your art.
I mainly create sculptures and paintings of the human figure. These are usually cast in bronze and will sometime have a fabricated element, such as wood or fabric.
In my sculptures and paintings, I endeavor to describe the pleasures of solidarity and shared experiences among women. Some figures exist in ethereal environments, giving a sense of being a symbol, for different aspects both positive and negative of women. Other works are in home settings or with furniture, these women are more of a representation of the interior life, both physically and mentally. In my paintings and sculpture furniture and clothing are very important, as they are some of the strongest social signifiers in women’s lives.
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
We are bombarded with imagery and ideas constantly at an incredibly rapid speed. Painters and sculptors can provide a visual stimulus which is absorbed at a much slower pace, over time, and with layered and complex ideas. Painting and sculpting take a great amount of time by the creator, and I feel that time and space can be enjoyed by its viewer if they choose to slow down enough to see it.
The work I create deals with a loose narrative of the modern female condition. I would not say it had a particular agenda, only that it comes from the general direction of my own perspective of social oddities and uncomfortable experiences.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My most recent work the “Canyon Walkers”, a group of four monumental size figurative sculptures is now installed at Laguna College of Art + Design main campus, 2222 Laguna Canyon Rd. Laguna Beach, CA
My website is brittanyryanstudios.com, and my Instagram is @brittanyryanart
Visit my website for available works or commissions.
Contact Info:
- Address: Laguna Beach, CA
- Website: brittanyryanstudios.com
- Email: brittanyryanart@gmail.com
- Instagram: @brittanyryanart
Image Credit:
Eric Stoner and Brittany Ryan
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