Sophie Ryder : Monumental

12 Jun-8 Sep 2013

Overview

Sophie Ryder is one of the leading sculptors working in Britain today. Her work is an amalgamation of multiple forms: animal and human; miniature and monumental; domestic and wild; transparent and opaque. It encompasses fact and fiction – part-autobiographical, part-mythology – and straddles two very different worlds. Monumental brings the outside in and allows for a conversation between scale, site and sculpture. Miniature maquettes sit alongside statuesque bronzes and creatures constructed from wire; drawings and models show the process from idea to finished work. Ryder’s work is monumental in stature, but also lends itself to a more abstract understanding of the term. It bears a history, a past, commemorating both Ryder’s physical and philosophical input into the work. It is in this sense that the fragility of the work shines through: a monument to its own construction.