Artist in focus – Kathleen Ryan

Ailish Henderson shares her view on the world of embroidery - it's the Ailist!

Artist in focus – Kathleen Ryan

For this issue I wanted to first focus on an artist I came across recently thanks to Instagram – Kathleen Ryan, an artist who has literally made mouldy fruit fabulous – when life gives you lemons….create beaded lemons!  She also serves as an example of my current bee in my bonnet as it were – misinterpreting the size and scale of art, down to not getting to see it for real.  It seems to be a lesson I constantly learn, thanks to the easy way of viewing work on social media and other sites….anyway back to Ryan…

Who is she?

She’s technically a sculptor – at first glance I imagined her work to be tiny, having no point of reference via the images observed.  Then after some spying on Instagram, I realised that these were rather larger than life….

beaded large sculpture in the form of a mouldy lemon - beaded lemons
‘Green-eyed monster’ – 2019 (beaded sculpture)

I recommend that you check out recent articles on her beaded lemons, such as this one on Design Boom and also her Instagram account.

‘Fools Mould’ – an even greener sculpture.

I wont give you any more info – however it taught me a lesson – never gauge the size of art through social media images…you might just get a surprise on further spying.  Ryan has certainly got me inspired – have you or I got a niche as she has – something unique?

Linking this artist to another who has written some wonderful content for us, have you checked out the work of Alicja Kozłowska? Why not check out the column below, where she discusses similar work to her own alongside her own awesome stuff!

Stitching It Real – all about drinks | Mr X Stitch

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