Stephanie Ryde

My name is Stevie Marie, as an artist I love to explore the human form as a conveyor of thought and feeling. I have always been profoundly drawn to portraiture and figurative art;  not just in the viewing of the work but the very process of rendering human form has always been an engaging experience for me. Were I might tire of drawing the inanimate,  such as the  linear, mathematical lines of buildings, I am forever enthralled by the experience of mapping out facial volume in a bid to capture emotion, and feel connection.I love to play with expressive postures, marrying reality with imagination to bring forth a sense of potent expression.I often work loosely from photo references combining, and contrasting detailed rendering with expressive marks to suggest form in a way that feels more dynamic, and visceral. I often incorporate nature as a theme within the work, as I find our connection to nature is inextricably linked to our interpersonal connections. Never do I glean a deeper felt sense of connection to people, and place than when I am out exploring the wild spaces of our beloved Cornwall. I love to explore form through the patterns and textures I find, our natural world  being fertile ground for inspiration.    The texture of the hills and foliage around a harbor dotted with chocolate box houses, quaint and unmistakably Cornish.I like to think that this carries a message of oneness between people and place, that it somehow imbues the person with a sense of wholeness. For me art is a means to experience wholeness, and a sense of connection were it often feels absent in real life. It is a means for me to cultivate curiosity, to better interpret my internal world and to bridge gaps in the relational dynamics of my life, in the hopes that I will find ways to better relate to myself, and to those I hold dear.