Grace Ryan’s practice explores the ubiquity of gendered materials and forms, and their entanglement with female subjectivity and mythology. With the pivotal idea of the hybrid, the work recontextualises the way we fetishise unrealistic ideals, through the processes of mutation and transformation.
Drawing attention to the unorthodox use of animal hides and the attraction/ repulsion dichotomy, the artist expands on the notion of ‘gendered vessels' into animals that have been culturally and historically labelled feminine. She utilises the abject qualities of these skins to challenge patriarchal symbol systems, through their incorporation of the grotesque.
The uncanny capabilities of fur and scales allow these objects to step outside of their own boundaries. When norms become temporarily suspended, this permits more narratives to accumulate, calling into question whether beauty is a valuable concept when making art that deals with the feminine. Her work ultimately presents a transcended discourse of the erotic, that challenges mainstream taste values.

Wood, latex, resin, cowhide, snakeskin, cowhorn, brass
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Installation view

Ferality, Fragility, Refinement, installation view
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Ferality, Fragility, Refinement, installation view

Dowry, photo etching, 49 x 66cm

Latex, resin, snakeskin, brass

Bovine Bodies I, photo etching & chine collé snakeskin, 49 x 66cm

Eve's Garden, photo etching, 77 x 60cm
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Installation view

Other Skins, copper dyed latex, cowhide, brass, wax thread