ARTIST STATEMENT:

Courtney N. Ryan is a ceramic artist and professor of color theory at and design at SCAD University in Atlanta, GA whose work explores the intersection of material, environment, and perception. Rooted in the observation of natural systems, her sculptures draw from seeds, pods, and migratory forms to examine how objects carry potential and adapt across changing conditions. Her installations often function as small ecologies, emphasizing relationships of proximity, rhythm, and transformation.

This investigation extends into her work as a color consultant for interiors, where she applies an understanding of light, material interaction, and spatial context to built environments. Through both practices, Ryan considers how color and form shape experience across objects and space.

BIOGRAPHY:

Courtney N. Ryan is a ceramic artist and educator based in Atlanta, Georgia. She currently teaches in the Foundation Studies Department at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), where she was awarded the Presidential Fellowship for Faculty Development two years in a row. In 2023, this honor supported a one-month residency at Vermont Studio Center to develop The Travelers, a ceramic installation exploring migration and seed dispersal. In 2024, she expanded this body of work during a two-month intensive residency at NES Artist Residency in Skagaströnd, Iceland, where she created site-responsive ceramic forms in dialogue with the arctic tundra.

Ryan holds an MFA in Ceramics and Sculpture from Georgia Southern University. Her work investigates the relationship between natural forms and ecological cycles, particularly seeds, pods, and the ways plants adapt, settle, and thrive in changing environments. She primarily works with cone-10 porcelain, stoneware, and earthenware to create sculptural pieces that are both organic and imagined, often forming immersive, wall-based installations.

Alongside her studio practice, Ryan has developed an ongoing focus on color as a material and perceptual system, informed by her teaching and research in color theory. This work extends into interior environments through color consulting, where she applies an understanding of light, material interaction, and spatial relationships to create cohesive, intentional color systems within built spaces.

Ryan has exhibited nationally at institutions such as The Delaware Contemporary (DE), MINT Gallery and Swan Coach House (GA), Columbus College of Art and Design (OH), Jacksonville University (FL), and the University of Georgia (GA). Internationally, her work has been shown at Aalto University (Finland), Waterford Institute of Technology (Ireland), and NES Artist Residency (Iceland).

Her practice is rooted in observation, material investigation, and travel, each informing the forms, textures, surfaces, and color relationships within her evolving body of work.