Vida Ryan Intuitive Thoughts - review by Jessica Clarke

A painting has its own presence to the viewer and is saying something that connects to the viewer, something that is intangible but it is there, this is what my art means to me. It is a means of communicating the abstract unconscious using more of the intuitive side of myself to connect with people. It means that I can express through painting what I feel.

Vida Ryan’s contemporary process and practice is fuelled by her lived experience, personally and socially. The places she traverses, the beauty she sees in both the natural and urban environment, and the people and places she interacts with, are rendered into poetic compositions that trigger the soul. Her abstract works are created with freedom, the paint applied directly to the canvas in layers that are guided and manipulated with a combination of paint brushes, everyday materials and objects, “whatever is at hand”, Ryan says, she paints from within.

A scintillating collection of her works have been assembled for Intuitive Thoughts – an exhibition by Vida Ryan that through their colourful and expressive qualities captivates and visually transports the viewer into a realm of infinite possibility. The works feature vibrant and varied symphonies of layered colour form free-flowing brushstrokes that collide, overlap and animate; transforming the experience of art into a voyeuristic journey that encourages the imagination to run wild. As reflections of her own experiences, these works for Ryan, operate as a means of communicating, expressing and connecting to life, art and the people and places around her.

Her process is one of action in the moment, carried out with spontaneity, feeling, and an intuitive awareness of the materials and objects she works with. The layers upon layers of highly textured paint saturate Ryan’s typically large canvases and are inspired by the subconscious. They engage the cycle between thought and feeling, conveying provocative reflections on experience. Her ability to let go and create through an intuitive
state of awareness, reveals the sensorial interplay between the movement, light and rhythms of the natural world and our experiences of it.

The expression of the subconscious excites and inspires me, I like to connect here to let go of self to create images, to bring forward or communicate the feeling and sense of connection that is a part of the human condition.  It is the unknown that inspires me, I create from that point.

It is easy to get lost in the works of Vida Ryan, mesmerised by her performative layering of colour and texture. Intuitive Thoughts reveals Ryan’s instinctual process and passion for colour, presenting an eclectic collection of abstractions that operate between the planes of thinking and feeling, the conscious and the unconscious, an experience that is alive and felt. Her works bring into view an interpretation beyond rational thought, one
that engages in an artistic play with rhythm and pattern and reflects on the intangible experience triggered by emotion and environment.

My art work represents bringing into view an interpretation of another view besides purely rational thought, it is heartfelt expression needing to be released and recognised. Everything considered, elements metaphoric application – medium manipulated either into a rough finish or smooth depending on the feel of the painting. directly onto the canvas to start, evolutionally process brushes stokes give a sense of movement and life to the image. Colour to convey the diversity of mood, colours can be played around with to create different atmospheres like to experiment with different ways of applying the paint to the canvas. instinctual process and passion for colour explorations of self and experience.

Written By Jessica Clark