A.I.R. Gallery

Joan Ryan

This body of work aims to reexamine our cultural myths of identity. These are portraits of contemporary archetypes executed in pastel as mythical depictions of the human figure. Emerging from blackness akin to characters from a modern day version of Plato’s Republic they reveal the mystery of our complex cultural identity.

I chose representational images because of their accessibility to the broad public, and for the sincere potency inherent to the meaning of images that fill a cultural void. By examining images of identity through our cultural myths I work to bring into question the belief system through which “society” see the world. The re-presentation of historically familiar images is given to the viewer to challenge and critique traditional stereotypes of human identity. Mythical constructs are reborn when mythical images are tampered with or their meaning altered. These works achieve a voice that is subtle and accessible through common representation aiming to feed these questions into everyday life.

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