Sophie Ryder at Artworks

5th March - 22nd April 2022

We are pleased to be hosting an extension of The Piece Hall’s Sophie Ryder exhibition through March and April. Visitors to the gallery will have the opportunity to see additional work by the artist and learn a little more about her practice.

Sophie Ryder “works big” and her imposing sculptures which are inspired by animals and mystical creatures have been exhibited globally in Canada, the U.S.A. Germany and Sweden, alongside major exhibitions at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Often displayed in rural settings, the show at The Piece Hall, Artworks, The Everybody School of Art and Dean Clough will represent a rare opportunity for her work to be seen right here in Calderdale.

The exhibition at Artworks’ gallery includes bronze maquettes, works in steel, and wire drawings and ephemera which take you on a journey into Sophie’s world, one of mystical creatures, animals and hybrid beings made from sawdust, wet plaster, old machine parts and toys, weld joins and angle grinders, wire, torn scraps of paper and charcoal sticks.

"There is something about working big that I find really exciting. It’s more physical and you get a much better feeling of the space that the sculpture occupies. When a piece is complete and I stand back and look at it, I hope to get that tingly feeling you get when you hear a beautiful piece of music. It’s then that I know I’m getting somewhere.”

Sophie Ryder