Rosaleen Ryan

'Golden Wealth'. A 50cmx50cm square of toffee with embedded dragonfly and flowering gum. (at Victorian College of the Arts (VCA))

A Salmon Body Pillow I made referencing a past life regression vision. In the Past life I was an old woman who married a salmon, and then once the salmon died I ate it and then died of heartbreak. Full Video of the Zine i made to accompany the sculpture of the salmon is on my instagram @rosaleenryan

experimenting with colour negatives in the darkroom

An ice sculpture I made encasing an apology letter written on vinyl inside a glass bottle.

Black Dog, which I presented for assessment for the end of my second year. He represents the dark part of me which will never go away. Inside his mouth is a tablet which plays a video of myself crying during a depressive episode. Presented in a room with the lights off, and a tiny amount of sunlight coming through a crack in the windows. The dog faces a corner and when you enter you view it's back, walk around to the front of it, and squat/sit to view the video. Beware of the black dog that follows me.

The prompt for today's class was as follows: -Get Ready; Do the easiest thing you can think of. -what are you really thinking right now? Incorporate. I decided that the easiest thing I could do whilst getting ready was to prepare a packet cake, put it in the oven, and get ready. What I was really thinking though, was that most of the time the easiest thing for me to do is just to exist. Existing can be really hard, but it's always the easier option for me and I try to remind myself of that whenever I start to think otherwise. Your existence is important! Your existence is enough, you are enough! (at Victorian College of the Arts (VCA))

COMPROMISE opening night on Tuesday at 5pm in the student gallery at VCA! I will have a piece in it (ooh la la) and so will many other talented folk! Come down for a gander and free bevvos and bruschetta made by yours truly! Gonna be a hoot. (at VCA Student Gallery)

So proud of this installation I just finished for my assessment tomorrow! The dress is floating above a carpet of real moss! I can't believe it came together exactly how I imagined- it seems so surreal to me to see it come to life!! I'll no doubt bore y'all by posting a plethora of finer shots tomorrow but couldn't help myself so this will do for tonight! Now to sleep and prepare myself for a full on day tomorrow. (at VCA)

Sneak Peak of a new work. (Cropped version of a full portrait) exploring more visions of hair. 💁

Today's class prompt was way too confusing and ambiguous for me to bother re-writing my interpretation of it, and also it was my last class of the semester- woo! But here's what I did for it anyway, a 'brown thumb', (the reverse of a green thumb.) the thumb is made of resin and embedded with a dead twig covered in lichen. I presented it on the floor atop soil.

The second part of my assessment yesterday was a crocheted blanket which used hair as it's 'yarn'. The idea behind it was a discussion about hair and it's basic function of warmth and thermoregulation. Why do we cut, remove, style and dye our hair? What do we substitute for hair in our search for warmth? The result above is an amalgamation of these questions and perhaps their answer.

Today I presented some things I am working on at my crit. Pictured is a crushed linen top I made with the word 'Eternal' embroidered in my hair. The idea for the piece is an extension of my existing explorations with memento Mori and hair, and newly involves something I do for my own pleasure in my own time, sewing. The hair is made up of strands I have collected from my hairbrush or hair that has fallen onto my shoulder, and the word 'eternal' represents not only the eternal struggle to keep my garments free of falling hair (ha ha), but a representation of the historical importance of hair as a gift of eternal love and devotion, and also hairs most important quality being that it is eternally present, rarely broken down in death and endless in its growth during life. Really happy with the responses and can't wait to push this idea further!

"Do it, then do one thing to it, then do one more" was my rule for my elective at uni this week. I arranged a small posy in a vase, froze it solid in water, and then let it thaw out over the course of the class.

Floating away.

In my elective at university we were given the challenge of identifying the words/materials "stark white, match, and plastic" in a photograph. This was my interpretation of the challenge. I embedded the match in resin and used my bedroom as the setting with the gorgeous morning light shining through onto the wall and reflecting through the resin. I'm really happy with the composition and subtleties in the resin and light.

I developed the photographs in the darkroom.I had so much fun embroidering and braiding the hair onto the image, and this single photograph took over 9 hours to embroider. I am really proud of the finished piece after all that effort.