Robyn Ryan
Virginia artist Robyn Ryan celebrates life through art; the making of it, the appreciation of it, and the sharing of it. She feels it is a worthwhile pursuit to express through art one's perception of and reaction to the world we live in and the creatures we share it with.
Robyn is inspired by living things; their mystery, complexity, shapes, movement, energy, personality, environment, and relationships with each other. She captures her subjects in "candid" moments and "glimpses" frozen in time for the viewer to ponder. Robyn enjoys conveying the idea, impression, or "essence" she wishes to highlight for each subject vs. solely creating a “photo-realistic” or “pretty picture.”
Known for her animal and nature related subject matter, Robyn’s artwork is characterized by her use of color, texture, and most recently by physical dimensionality. Robyn creates her art in a variety of water and mixed media as well as sculpture. Exploration and incorporation of new techniques and materials continue to enlarge her artistic vocabulary. She is drawn to the tactile aspects of her media; the flow of the pigment and water, the building of physical textures, and creating three dimensional pieces.
Robyn typically works on multiple pieces at one time, often due to the drying time required prior to subsequent steps in her water media works. This practice helps her prevent boredom, offers a path around occasional “sticking points,” and ensures a “fresh” eye when returning to each piece. This also allows the different works and series to inform and influence one another, continually sparking her creative process.
Robyn’s current work explores different ways of manipulating physical visual layers. Her “Acrylic Layer” pieces shown here consist of multiple applications of acrylic gel with paint, collage, and mixed media applied to or embedded between the layers. Robyn selectively “subtracts” paint on a layer she is working on to expose what lies beneath. Five to eight distinct and relatively thick clear gel applications create physical visual distance between each layer and allow the viewer to “see through” to enjoy the “sparkle” of the deeper layers visible through the clear gel. In addition to the visual and color depth achieved, the varied texture is very organic and lends itself to Robyn’s current series titled "fleeting glimpses", focused on the unexpected chance sightings of wildlife and nature. Robyn considers it a privilege to have the ability, inclination, and opportunity to create beautiful and engaging artwork, to explore the expression of her ideas related to those things which inspire her, and to share them with others.
