Sally Ryan

Sometimes the genre of the still life glorifies the mundane, bringing powerful presence to the humble onion or the peeled orange as Sally Ryan does so boldly. Believing that beauty resides in the truthful reality found in everyday life, Sally Ryan is driven to paint what she sees as she sees it. Inspired by Vermeer, Repin, Kramskoi and Annigoni, Sally Ryan is passionate about exploring and communicating an understanding of contemporary life as she understands it. Working primarily as a portrait artist, Sally Ryan’s still life works bring life to the everyday object: the orange half unpeeled, or the morning light in the kitchen. Her quirky still-lifes go beyond the painting and pose questions to her viewer. Sally Ryan is a member of Portrait Artists Australia and has had works exhibited with this organisation at the Art House Gallery, NSW Parliament House and the Australian Embassy in Washington. In 2016 she had a portrait of the former premier, Ted Baillieu, unveiled in the Parliament of Victoria and also painted Judith Poole, retiring headmistress of Abbotsleigh Girls School. Sally teaches portraiture and figure painting at the Julian Ashton Art School, and has a studio in Sydney.