Everything you know and love about modern sculpture, with a sustainable twist. A passion for ethical aesthetics and representations of femininity and self is evoked through Holly Ryan’s latest solo exhibition, Exhale, opening at Jerico Contemporary in Woolloomooloo. The collection of carved three-dimensional works reflect Ryan’s ongoing artistic devotion to organic minimalism, achieved through the reimagining of found and recycled materials. With a penchant for second-hand goods, Ryan’s focus on breathing new life into her materials add depth and intensity to the sculptures; the personal stories behind each piece merely one of many different lives that each element has lived throughout its existence.

Ryan’s entire artistic practice is informed by a personal ethos of sustainability, with her work space and studio featuring furniture handcrafted from found materials, and her tools sourced from fellow creatives and master craftsmen. An artist who places her whole self into her works, Exhale focuses on themes that stem from Ryan’s own extremely private and potent emotions, while simultaneously drawing reference from traditional sculptural movements. Subtle nods to artists such as Brâncusi, Hepworth and Picasso can be recognised in the collection, specifically in the way in which Ryan portrays abstraction and the human form. With such prominent figures in modernism and surrealism serving as constant underlying inspiration to the artist’s practice, it is no surprise that this body of work exudes sophistication and an understanding of balance and form well beyond her years. Exhale’s opening will take place on February 13, with the collection on display until the March 9, 2019.