Sophie Ryder was born in London, England, in 1963. She studied combined arts at the Royal Academy of Arts from 1981 to 1984, focusing initially on painting. She changed her focus when the Royal Academy's director, Sir Hugh Casson, encouraged her skills development in sculpture.^[2]

Works

Ryder's sculptures sometimes represent mystical creatures, animals and hybrid beings created in assemblages of materials such as sawdust, wet plaster, obsolete machinery, toys, weld joins, wire 'pancakes', torn scraps of paper and charcoal sticks. Her iconography includes the character of the Lady Hare, which she sees as a counterpart to Ancient Greek mythology's Minotaur. Her most known piece is the Lady Hare, a hare with a female human body. The works have been commended for questioning human relationships to the natural and folkloric worlds while contemplating dualities of perception.^[4]^[5]^[6]

In 1994, a depiction of five minotaurs was excluded from an exhibition at Winchester Cathedral because the sculpture included genitalia as part of the anatomy.^[7]

Ryder has stated, "I don't sit and contemplate what it is I am trying to achieve. My head is full of ideas all the time. It is part of my life. I don't plan anything, it just comes." Similarly, when asked about the prominence of hares in her work, the artist stated, "it's the same as asking me why I make sculptures, and the answer is because I feel driven to. So it's difficult to always pin down reasons. My introduction to hares was when my lurcher dog would proudly bring hares home and drop them at my feet."^[8]

Solo shows

Source:^[9]

1987

Edward Totah Gallery, London
Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury
Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury

1988

St. Paul's Gallery, Leeds
Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury

1990

Newport City Museum & Art Gallery, Newport, Gwent
Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury
Henley Festival, Henley-on-Thames
Berkeley Square Gallery, Landon

1991

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield

1992

Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury

1994

Winchester Cathedral, Inner Close, Winchester
Red House Museum & Gardens, Christchurch, Dorset
The Allen Gallery (Garden), Aton, Hampshire

1995

Berkeley Square Gallery, London

1996

Belloc Lowndes Gallery, Chicago

1997

O'Hara Gallery, New York
Berkeley Square Gallery, London

1998

Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury

1999

Berkeley Square Gallery, London
Victoria Art Gallery, Bath

2000

Berkeley Square Gallery, London
Odapark, Venray, The Netherlands
Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury
Buschlon Mowatt Galleries, Vancouver BC

2001

Galerie de Bellefeuile, Montréal

2002

Metropole Galleries, Folkestone, Kent, UK
Courcoux & Courcoux Galley, Salisbury

2003

Berkey Square Galley, London

2004

Victoria Art Gallery, Bath
Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA
Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury
Storey Galleries, Lancaster

2005

Canary Wharf, London
Solomon Gallery, Dublin

2006

Atkinson Gallery, Millfield School
Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin

2007

Imago Galleries, Palm Desert
Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids

2008

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield

2009

Victoria Art Gallery, Bath

2010

Aynhoe Park, Oxfordshire
Chateau Saint Rosaline, Les Arc-sur Argens

2011

Aynhoe Park, Oxfordshire

2012

Cartwright Hall Aré Gallery, Bradford
Villa D’Arte, Pietrasanta, Italy

2013

Cola Landis Contemporary Art Gallery, Moreton in- Marsh Royal West Academy, Bristol
Imago Galleries, Palm Desert

2014

New Brewery Arts, Cirencester
Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Stockbridge

2016

Hignell Gallery, London
Sophie Ryder Rising, Waterhouse and Dodd, Rising, New York

2017

Hignell Gallery, London

2018

Galerie de Bellefeuile, Montreal

Biography

Works

Solo shows

References

External links