KATE RYAN
Moments of Being
April 2023
"Radiant Nature" acrylic on canvas 30” x 40”.
My artwork is a reflection of my personal experiences and emotions in life, and it prompts the question: what makes us feel alive?
Through painting, I discover new parts of myself that I have not met before, and the process of creating allows me to meet myself in the art. Living in California has greatly impacted my painting style, as the bright light and proximity to the ocean subconsciously influence my color choices and energy. When approaching abstract art, I embrace improvisation and the absence of a defined image or map, to begin with. I allow the artwork to evolve through spontaneous decisions and reactions between colors and marks, and shapes. As I add and subtract layers, the painting evolves in response to the moment, much like an irresistible puzzle that takes shape as I work. Through this cycle of building and collapse, an image eventually emerges and takes command of the painting. The painting that emerges is a pictorial account of a voyage, which, in my opinion, acts as a gateway to a realm of introspection, meditation, and insight for those who observe it. I believe that art provides an opportunity to pause and ruminate on something beyond the mundane, delving deeper to establish meaningful relationships.
“Bloom Where You Are Planted l” acrylic on canvas, 36” x 36”.
“Bloom Where You Are Planted lI” acrylic on canvas, 36” x 36”.
“Bather” Acrylic on canvas, 40” x 60”
About Kate
Kate Ryan is a London-born artist who currently lives and works in Orange County, California. She draws inspiration from her interest in the natural world, music, writing, and meditation to create color-driven abstract paintings rich with a personal lexicon of marks and shapes. Her work explores themes of place, transcendence, ambiguity, vulnerability, and growth, reflecting her personal experience of life. Using a process of building up surfaces in layers, Kate creates detailed compositions that include spontaneous markings, painted shapes, and washes of luminous, veil-like glazes of thinned paint. Surfaces are sometimes sanded or scraped to excavate and reveal glimpses of former layers underneath. The painting achieves an intriguing combination of mark-making that plays with the tension between abstraction and figuration. The artist employs free-form drawing with loose and gestural brushstrokes to imbue the paintings with a dynamic energy that captures a sense of movement and vitality. Kate has exhibited her works in California and has pieces in private collections in the United Kingdom, the United States, and New Zealand. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Middlesex University and a Fine Art & Design Diploma from Central Saint Martins, London, England.
IG: @kateryanstudio
