Brittany Ryan
United States
Born in 1983 in San Diego, California Brittany Ryan received her formal education at Laguna College of Art and Design. Graduating in 2005 with a BFA, majoring in Illustration and a minor in Sculpture and her MFA in drawing and painting in 2010.
Brittany currently lives and works in Southern California. She is involved in group shows with local museums, galleries and art associations. In 2020 Brittany was juried into the California Art club Gold Metal Show, is a finalist at the Portrait Society International competition and in 2019 won the Silver Medal award at the National Sculpture Societies 86th Annual Awards show.
In 2018 Brittany completed the “Canyon Walkers” a monumental sculpture project consisting of four monumental size figurative sculptures cast in bronze installed at the main campus of Laguna College of Art and Design. In 2013 Brittany was awarded the Elizabeth Greenshields grant, a prestigious grant created for contemporary figurative artists.
Since 2014 Brittany has been the sculpture department coordinator and an instructor at her alma mater Laguna College of Art + Design.
Brittany’s current body of sculptures investigates the beauty of people in transition from childhood to adulthood, as one become socially aware of the judgement of others and finding a place in a social group. She depicts them in one of the most vulnerable positions we commonly put ourselves, in a bathing suit. These works also examine the idea story and character- giving them s specificity of portrait, clothing and shape which imbues them with a force of will beyond the judgment placed upon common representations of sexuality and beauty.
In the execution of her work Brittany strives for balance between an entirely modern aesthetic that would prevent the work from feeling timeless, and an entirely classical one that might make it un-relatable. These figures are contemporary and specific, not idealized, not without identity. She is looking for a space somewhere between narrative and poetry for them to inhabit. Hoping the viewer relates deeply to the power and intent of the figures, to care about
* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 15th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.
