Veronica Ryan: Unruly Objects

Veronica Ryan: Unruly Objects, coorganized with the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, presents over 100 sculptures, textiles, and works on paper by the Montserrat-born British artist. 
 
Based in New York since the 1990s and traveling often to the UK, Ryan’s work is influenced by transatlantic exchanges. She creates a network of connections that bring together personal and global histories of travel and migration as well as narratives of healing, nurturing, and belonging. The exhibition also highlights her frequent return to past works and ideas in pursuit of new conversations. Through this continuous reshaping, she asks us to consider life itself as a process of constant growth, navigation, and change. 
 
The materials and techniques Ryan uses serve the themes and narratives that surface in her work. Her hand-embroidered pillowcases and cushions evoke dream states and interior worlds. So does her use of alluring textures and colors—some sourced from natural materials like coral, turmeric, and indigo. Visitors will encounter sculptures made from traditional art materials, including bronze and marble, but also found and everyday items, from seeds to bandages and hair ties. Ryan asks us to reconsider so-called waste, imbuing discarded material such as padded envelopes, fabric scraps, packaging, and plastic bottles with new life. Her reuse of such humble materials, remaking them into artwork, suggests environmental concerns around excess and consumption. It also demonstrates a recognition of discarded objects’ unrealized potential. 
 
Like seeds that travel via wind and water to take root far from their origins, Ryan’s exhibition takes visitors on a journey through her personal universe and histories through the Caribbean and across the Atlantic.