Courtney N. Ryan

ARTIST STATEMENT:

Courtney N. Ryan is a ceramic artist based in Atlanta, GA, where she also teaches as a Foundation Studies Professor at SCAD University. With an MFA in Ceramics and Sculpture from Georgia Southern University, Ryan’s work draws inspiration from the natural world, particularly the forms and processes of seeds and seed pods. Her ceramic sculptures reflect the tenacity and resilience of nature, with intricate surfaces, tendrils, folds, and cavities, evoking the ways plants disperse and thrive in their native environments.

Ryan’s creative process is rooted in direct observation, often inspired by her travels. During a recent two-month summer residency in Iceland, she documented the arctic tundra’s diverse flora, and in 2023, she did similar work in residence at Vermont Studio Center, capturing the seasonal shift into winter. These experiences inform her organic, yet imagined, sculptural forms made primarily from cone-10 fired Porcelain, alongside some Earthenware and Stoneware.

BIOGRAPHY:

Recently Courtney N. Ryan was awarded Savannah College of Art and Design’s Presidential Fellowship for Faculty Development Award for a 2nd year in a row. The 1st award was for a one month artist residency at Vermont Studio Center in fall 2023 to develop a ceramic focused project titled The Travelers. Summer 2024, Ryan embarked on a two-month ceramics intensive residency at NES Residency in Skagaströnd, Iceland, where she worked in the arctic tundra to continue The Travelers project in an almost alien geographic setting.

Courtney N. Ryan has shown and presented her work nationally in galleries including The Delaware Contemporary of Wilmington, Delaware; MINT Gallery and Swan Coach House of Atlanta, Georgia; Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio; Vermont Studio Center, in Johnson, Vermont; Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida; Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia, University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming; and the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. Internationally she has exhibited at Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland; NES Artist Residency in Skagaströnd, Iceland; and at Waterford Institute of Technology in Waterford, Ireland.