Ayan Farah
Ryan Farah’s wall-based works, sculptures, videos, and sound pieces reflect passing time in nature. With a background in fashion, the artist begins with clothing, bedding, or fabric, and douses it with a variety of mediums, including salt, dirt, alcohol, clay, and vinegar, among others. The surfaces are then buried, left out in the sun and wind, or bleached by UV rays to alter their physical and chemical make-up. Farah is interested in the molecular and organic transformations she can impart, which are both planned and completely spontaneous. When these works are stretched over wooden bars, sometimes as a single textile or with many pieces sewn together like a quilt, they become literal records of their environments. Farah is fascinated by the shifting qualities of her subject—both the processes she employs and the site-specific terrain within which they’re created—and the way in which chance manifests in their final product.
Farah has exhibited at institutions including British American Museum, Mexico City, The Arts Club, London, Royal College of Art, London, and numerous international galleries since 2006. The artist has been granted residencies and grants from Eileen Shona, Scotland, Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm, The University Centre in Svalbard, Norway, and Creative Collaboration, …
Ryan Farah’s wall-based works, sculptures, videos, and sound pieces reflect passing time in nature. With a background in fashion, the artist begins with clothing, bedding, or fabric, and douses it with a variety of mediums, including salt, dirt, alcohol, clay, and vinegar, among others. The surfaces are then buried, left out in the sun and wind, or bleached by UV rays to alter their physical and chemical make-up. Farah is interested in the molecular and organic transformations she can impart, which are both planned and completely spontaneous. When these works are stretched over wooden bars, sometimes as a single textile or with many pieces sewn together like a quilt, they become literal records of their environments. Farah is fascinated by the shifting qualities of her subject—both the processes she employs and the site-specific terrain within which they’re created—and the way in which chance manifests in their final product.
Farah has exhibited at institutions including British American Museum, Mexico City, The Arts Club, London, Royal College of Art, London, and numerous international galleries since 2006. The artist has been granted residencies and grants from Eileen Shona, Scotland, Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm, The University Centre in Svalbard, Norway, and Creative Collaboration, Reykjavik. In 2012, she was on the short list for the Dazed&Confused/Converse emerging artist award, The Red Mansion Award, and The Constance Fairness award.
