City of Women Denizen: Perryn Ryan

Bona Fides: Brooklyn, New York-based artist and designer. Perryn embodies bold action and is a model for how creative women can live out their passions in a balanced, healthy, and empowering manner.

City of Women Induction: Perryn’s art channels her enthusiasm for self care, the benefits of a wellness lifestyle, and her desire to celebrate women. Perryn spent 10 years as a technical designer in the fashion industry but decided to make a bold step and return to the creative, artistic lifestyle she practiced years ago. She strives for simplicity in her artwork but imbues it with a universal sense of womanhood. Her piece Sisters (pictured below) immediately caught my attention and will have a place in our City of Women museum.

RPO: I LOVE that your work is inspired by self-care, wellness and womanhood. Please tell me about your journey -- how did you come to art as a way to celebrate these three wonderful things?

PR: From the start of 2019 until now, I’ve come to the realization that I just want to spend my life doing the things that make me happy. A little over a year ago I quit my job as a technical designer after 10 years in the fashion industry. I didn’t have another job to start immediately after, or any other real concrete plans for what I was going to do next. I just needed the break, to be still, and to give myself room to breathe. It was the first time in 7 years that I didn’t have to give all of my time and energy to someone else.

I used this last year to get really clear on what I wanted to do, how I wanted to spend my time, and investing more time and energy into doing things that made me feel good. I started painting and drawing again after a 10 year long break, I got serious about daily meditation, I even started roller skating again after 20+ years (I practically lived at the roller rink as a kid!) Doing all of these things made me feel better, quieted my anxiety, and shifted my energy. So why not create art that celebrates and inspires other women to love themselves and each other a little bit more!

RPO: Many of your pieces showcase the strength of the line, which I so appreciate as a calligrapher. Looking at Décollatage Mocha, I marvel at how you've created this beautiful torso in just a few strokes. But I think simplicity is deceptive to the non-artist... it seems "easy" when really, it can be more difficult to achieve than complexity... it means working within limitations. Do you find it challenging to express yourself using so few strokes? What's your process?

Sisters, Perryn Ryan — *Sisters*, Perryn Ryan

PR: Thank you! I agree that simplicity can be deceptive in art and it took me a long time to learn that. It wasn’t until I discovered and started studying Picasso’s line drawings that I realized the key to creating simple line drawings like the one in Décolletage is starting with a more complicated drawing and then simplify, simplify, simplify! My process involves starting with a contour or gesture drawing using quick, heavy, short strokes. Once I’ve got the general idea of the object down, then I can begin to play with the lines and shapes. My personal aesthetic is minimalist, so I rely on lines, simple shapes, and color to create movement and emotion in my work.

RPO: Which medium allows you to most fully express yourself? Is it watercolors, digital artwork, or something else?

PR: I’ve always thought of myself as an analog girl dipping and dabbling in the digital world! I like painting with watercolors or gouache, drawing with charcoal, and I have quite a bit of experience drawing in Photoshop and Illustrator (although I don’t prefer these programs).

Things started to shift when I decided to treat myself to the new iPad and Apple Pencil last November. Since then, I’ve almost exclusively been creating digital artwork. It allows me to work faster, work on multiple projects at once, plus it’s less expensive than restocking paints and brushes. I’m sure I’ll return to painting at some point, but right now I’m having too much fun in the digital art space!

RPO: In the City of Women that we're building, your Sisters artwork will be the first piece I hang in our museum! What was your inspiration for it?

PR: This is awesome and I’m so grateful that you are including my work in your museum! The inspiration for the Sisters piece was inspired by an image of a makeup palette that I found on Pinterest. When I saw the colors, I wanted to create something that celebrated our differences in skin tone, hue, and shade, but championed unity above all else. I wanted to create something that each woman could look at and feel represented. It is by far my most popular and best selling work to date, so I’d say mission accomplished!

RPO: What can women do better to support women artists and help us grow?

PR: Buy our art, promote our art, collaborate, and encourage us to keep creating. If it weren’t for other women buying, supporting, and encouraging me along the way, I don’t think — in fact I know — that I wouldn’t be where I am today.