Marco Ryan
shadow work
17 - 28 May 2023
G4
Opening Night
Friday 19 May | 6pm – 8pm
◼︎
Throughout the journey from substance addiction to recovery, the alchemy of healing has revealed a constellation of scars. Within this process, themes of abandonment, isolation, and the stigma of addiction are simultaneously explored.
These works map a curious journey through the Dark Night of the Soul toward acceptance and transformation.
Artist Bio
Marco is an emerging visual artist from Melbourne’s inner West.
His images are created primarily in a combination of acrylic and oil paint on found or recycled plywood panels. Each piece begins with an exploration of texture before the figures are revealed. Detail is added with charcoal, oil stick, and spray paint. A process untrained, informal, and experimental: one image began with thrown, cooked spaghetti as a spray stencil.
Using art making as a meditative tool, the world recedes as colours blend and textures are revealed. A process intuitive and untrained to rediscover the child within. Creation becomes an internal alchemy: the transmutation of trauma to healing. Inspiration comes from modern street artists, the painterly comic artists Dave McKean and Simon Bisley, and the nightmare surrealists H.R.Giger and Beksinski.
After initially studying tertiary Fine Arts, Marco found a successful career in nursery horticulture which continued for two decades. He recently rediscovered artmaking as a therapeutic tool, after an escalation in substance addiction led to homelessness. His creativity became essential to healing from the trauma of this experience.
Contact
Phone : (03) 9482 3550
mail@redgallery.com.au
Address
157 St Georges Rd
Fitzroy North, Victoria, 3068
Map
How to get here
Tram: route 11
Stop 21 just north of Edinburgh Gardens
Melway ref: 30B12
Parking in nearby streets
Bus: 504 (Reid Street)
