Kathleen RyanBad Melon (Cowboy), 2026

Aventurine, serpentine, agate, amazonite, magnesite, lapis lazuli, howlite, carnelian, chrysocolla, azurite in malachite, aquamarine, abalone, freshwater pearl, glass, acrylic, steel pins on coated polystyrene, Volkswagon hood

85 × 23 × 39 in

About the artist

’s sculptural practice re-envisions the detritus of American life. Spoiled fruits become monuments in glistening stone; industrial parts and domestic ephemera are transformed into plants and animals. Reclaimed automobilia, mottled gemstone façades, and armatures of debris interlink and sprawl. Ryan marries disparate objects in novel formations, equally attuned to the material culture of her sources and to the classical considerations of sculpture. Gravity, formal dynamism, and negative space are as much a part of her vocabulary as marble, crystal, and the hoods of aging American muscle cars. With concision and irreverence, Ryan’s sculptures juxtapose kitsch, pastiche, and double entendre to reframe elements of Americana’s iconic visual bricolage, revealing both the beauty and the absurdity inherent in its cultural artifacts. Kathleen Ryan (b. 1984, Los Angeles, CA) studied art and archaeology as an undergraduate at Pitzer College, and received her MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles under emeritus faculty Charles Ray and Catherine Opie. Recent institutional solo exhibitions include Kistefos Museum, Jevnaker, Norway; Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany; New Art Gallery, Walsall, UK; MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, US; and the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria. Her work is held in numerous public collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, US; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, US; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, US; Crystal Bridges a Museum of American Art, Bentonville, US; Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, US; LAM Museum, Lisse, Netherlands; and the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, US. She lives and works in New Jersey, NY.

About the artist

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