Katharine Ryals

Ryals’ work examines how ornamentation and objects work in combination with myth to convey hierarchy, power, and value. Utilizing the dichotomies of natural/artificial, trash/treasure, sacred/profane, and luxury/kitsch, she emulates material culture artifacts to create mixed media sculptures, lens-based work, wearable art, and site-specific installations. Through her practice, she seeks to understand how the cultural currencies of authenticity, taste, and illusion are used to generate an economy of perceived value and hierarchy within our world.

Ryals holds a BFA in Photography from Savannah College of Art and Design and an MFA & Adv. Certificate in Museum Education from Brooklyn College. She has shown her work nationally, including recent two person shows at Elijah Wheat Showroom (2023) and Ortega Y Gasset Projects (2022), in group exhibitions with ChaShaMa (2020, 2021), Ortega Y Gasset Projects (2019), and The Wassaic Project (2018, 2019, 2023), and in solo booths at SPRING/BREAK Art Show (2020, 2022). She has also attended residencies at the Wassaic Project (2017, 2019, 2022), ChaNorth (2019), The Peter Bullough Foundation (2021), and received a Fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center (2018). She is a 2022 Joseph Robert Foundation grant recipient, and has been featured in The New York Times, White Hot Magazine, Artnet, Forbes, and Hyperallergic. Originally from Arkansas, she lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.