Featured Artist: Kathryn Ryan

Kathryn Ryan is a Warrnambool artist known for her atmospheric landscape oil paintings that portray the serene beauty of the South-Victorian countryside. Characterised by a deep connection to her rural upbringing, Kathryn's work explores themes such as strength and fragility, balance and interconnectedness, inviting her viewers to embark on a personal journey to find their peace through the contemplation of nature.

With each painting taking several months to complete, Kathryn carefully applies countless layers of thin glazing to add depth and luminosity, stopping only once she has successfully translated her intuitive responses to the natural world. Through the sensitive interplay of light, shadow, tonal nuances and subtle glazed surfaces, Kathryn contrasts intricate detail with the suggestion of vast open spaces, both soft yet dramatic, delicate yet strong.

Throughout the span of her career, Kathryn has been a finalist in several prestigious art prizes, and her work has been acquired for notable public collections such as Artbank, the Parliament House Collection, the Warrnambool Art Gallery, and for private collections around the globe.

Join us as we chat with Kathryn about her creative process, inspirations, and what's next for her art practise.

Having exhibited with leading galleries both nationally and internationally - including a stint in Abu Dhabi and Dubai - you’ve built an impressive art career spanning more than 30 years.  What have been some pivotal moments in your career that have shaped the direction of your art? 
I think at various stages of your life you come across times of more reflection and inquiry as to where you are at, what is important to you. I guess it began for me with art school in the mid-eighties and having an explosion of influences as you learnt about current, past and historical artists and periods in art history, and experimentation to develop your works.

After art school you often need to unlearn some of those influences to find your own voice- and this changes over time as you grow as a person. 

When I was first taken on by commercial galleries, I would describe my work as being influenced by the natural world, however refined to a minimal abstraction. Then there was a time about 15 years into my studio practice when I began to reference the farming landscape and pine trees from my years of growing up on a dairy farm, which lead to a whole decade or so of works.

As I travelled and moved around, new influences came in, whether it was the snowy landscape from Scotland or the light and shadow reflections from the UAE. But the concerns were often the same or similar, always trying to find more relevant ways to communicate or rather refining and developing those concerns and visual language. 

Now I am still referencing the trees in my nearby landscapes, but the works have become more minimal, taking out some of the landscape references and trying to succinctly evoke the feelings and depth in the work with a pared back visual language - to the essential elements. This is something I have always been interested in: depicting depth, mood, mystery, light, fragilities, the delicate coexisting and balanced with the strong and dynamic. 

Other pivotal moments have been I guess art career steps, or events that helped me go further. They would be things like being signed to / represented by commercial galleries, included in major art prizes like The Wynne Prize for Landscape at AGNSW and having your works acquired by major Art Collections, example Parliament House Canberra. These were all great boosts of encouragement to help keep me going. For the past 22 years I have managed to work fulltime as an artist supporting myself- it’s not easy and still often very challenging but I am so grateful to be able to devote all my time to my artwork. 

It’s clear from your artworks that you possess a deep, emotional connection to the land and nature. Where does your intimate connection with place originate?
I was fortunate to grow up on a dairy farm in Southwest Victoria, this to me is what initially fed into my visual language. Witnessing the changing times of day and seasons and being more exposed to the elements and close to the natural world, and a more solitary time, away from the hustle and bustle of cities. 

It wasn’t until years after I had moved away as a young adult that I came to appreciate all it had to offer in terms of referencing it for my paintings. After about 15 years of studio practice, when searching for how to develop my work, I began to think: start with what you really know – and diving back into the farming landscape became my starting point. 

How would you describe your unique visual language, and how has it developed over the years? 
Your visual language is always developing as you are. I believe it starts with a lot of self-inquiry, working out how you tick, what is important to you, your own personal traits. This then is developed into a visual language- it must be genuine, truthful, honest, intuitive. The connection with yourself and for it to make sense as a visual language needs to match- this is what we work on as artists. 

Our visual language and process are always being refined and need to match what is relevant to you at this point and what you are trying to communicate.  It is a language – some processes remain as your continue your work, others are dropped as you refine the concerns in your work or find a more powerful way to communicate them. 

After spending decades of your artistic career in Melbourne and a short period in the UAE, you have now returned to your South-West Victorian roots.  How has this transition affected your artistic perspective and the themes you explore?
When I first returned to SW Victoria it was coming straight from living in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for many years so the connection to the land and fresh air and natural world was vitally important, and I wanted to bring these references back into my work. 

Now I am very settled in my studio and my interior world and feel I have a lifetime of ideas to draw upon. I am quite happy bunkering down in the studio and developing the works in more solitude – although I do need to pop my head out to refresh often enough.

 My current work is drawing more upon my internal world and the many ideas for new directions which are slowly bubbling away. The painting processes, visual language and mark making are becoming more intriguing and exciting to develop in new ways.

Your beautifully atmospheric landscapes evoke a quiet, meditative quality – are your artworks more about capturing the external world or reflecting an internal experience?
That’s a good question. The driving force and inquiry have always been more about my internal experience. I can only speak for myself, but I find my artwork and sentiments often connect with others as we have a shared humanity, so they can relate. 

The landscape / natural world speaks to me in such a way as it beautifully reflects our human experiences. Take for instance our fragilities, vulnerabilities and our strengths and self-knowledge and the navigation and balancing of these in our lives. I see this reflected in nature, so it serves as a good metaphor.

 Equally the mood and atmosphere from the natural world feed into my work, the dynamics and contrasts we see in nature also play out visually, as much as my internal dialogue and emotional or spiritual concerns. So, I guess it’s both external and internal, although I see them as completely related and intertwined. 

You’ve previously mentioned that introspection plays a key role in your creative process.  Could you elaborate on this, and share how it shapes your approach to a new artwork or series?
There is a lot of introspection, especially as I am developing a new series of works for exhibition. It is vital that my artwork is honest and engaging and has meaning and depth for me. You need to put in the work both by being tuned in to what you want to communicate and what is the best way to go about that.

 I will spend a lot of time refining my goals, ideas and feelings for the works before I start a new series. As I’m working on it, that may deviate slightly or new ideas come up, often through the process of painting, while you are responding to what you are doing – refinement may come. My intention is for the work to have a power of its own, that may mean it still sits quietly and ideally has an emotional connection. 

Can you describe your glazing process and how it influences the mood of your paintings? Are there any particular challenges working with such thin layers of paint?
My glazing techniques have developed over a long period of time and have changed quite dramatically in that time too. I have been driven by the desire to build depth, mood, tone, light and an element of mystery or desire to look deeply or beyond.

 It is a very challenging process- I need to be fully in tune with what I am trying to achieve on that day, as the paintings are built up over many months, yet each painting session needs to sit in a balanced way, ready for the following transparent layers. There is not a lot of room for error or covering up, each stage in a sense needs to be refined to a level of completion, before the next layer. 

 Each glazing session needs to be done relatively quickly, working with several colors and tones both dripping wet in a fluid mixture and drier paint blended in a certain time frame before it starts to dry. Each painting then needs to rest for several weeks before I repaint over that section again and again… The detailed painting work can take weeks and months, which is worked on often before the glazing process and sometimes re worked as needed. 

There is a process of glazing and underpainting that is done in alternative layers until I come to the final layers of glazing… until it holds its own and is balanced and has the depth and surface and dynamics I was after. Creating a unified surface is very important in my work and it has taken years to refine the way I work with a lot of patience to build many layers while still retaining a smooth and transparent surface. 

You describe charcoal drawing as fundamental to your artistic journey.  Could you expand on this statement? How does working with charcoal compare to your painting process?
I absolutely love working in charcoal- I find it a very immediate medium and a way of communicating from heart & mind to hand and paper- it is a very direct visual language.

 I guess I have always developed my paintings tonally, so working in charcoal tones and gradations suits. I also love the variation in mark making and the range of subtle and bold contrasts. The fundamentals of working with tones, lights, darks, the contrasting and juxtaposition of shapes and space, then balancing the whole to a unified drawing (or painting) This is how I build an artwork. My approach with painting is very similar, I guess I have first explored these dynamics and qualities in charcoal and have translated my way of working of building up layers both in charcoal and painting. 

What essential tools or rituals help you get into the creative flow when working on a painting?
Being well rested is important, so I juggle my big workload days with easier days! 

I think what is most important as driving inspiration is listening to good music in the studio, that can range from trance/ dance music to various world music and all in between! It can also be quite reflective, listening to certain music, taking you back to various times in your life. Sometimes I’m in the mood for gentle, reflective, mediative music and other times I need techno beats or trance to keep the energy flowing!

Reflecting back on your expansive art career, what advice would you extend to emerging artists navigating the art world today?
The most important thing is your artwork. Developing your visual language and way of creating – being clear on what you are trying to communicate – be consistent, document everything, be professional and take it seriously. Life as an artist is a vocation; you do it because you love it and can’t see yourself doing anything else. Searching for depth and meaning in life through art is a great way to expand and grow. Putting in the hard work, long hours and belief in what you are doing – exhibitions, galleries, etc will come on the back of that. Surrounding yourself with supportive artist friends is also important. 

What’s happening in the studio in 2025?  Can you share with us any upcoming projects or exhibitions you are particularly excited about?
Yes! I have a major solo exhibition coming up in Melbourne at Scott Livesey Galleries in Prahran in August. I am working intensely on this new series of works – I’m hoping to have about 17 oil paintings of various sizes. It is such a beautiful gallery to be showing with, and it’s always exciting to see the works out of my crowded studio and installed on the beautiful gallery walls.