Artist Kathleen Ryan Creates Gemstone Sculptures That Look Like Moldy Fruits

We often hear people say that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” This proves true as artist Kathleen Ryan finds inspiration in something we would least expect—a bunch of rotten fruits. Normally, these no-good fruits would just end up in the bin right away. But the New York-based artist still found unexpected beauty amidst these fruits’ decaying surfaces.

This inspired her to create a series of moldy fruits sculptures entitled Bad Fruits. Who would have thought that it’s possible to turn what most people consider as trash into a classy artwork? Indeed, anything is possible through the eyes and hands of a talented artist.

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“The sculptures are beautiful and pleasurable, but there’s an ugliness and unease that comes with them.”

To make these stunning rotten fruit replicas, Ryan makes use of a polystyrene base that measures from six up to 29 inches in width. She then maps out the fresh and moldy surfaces of the fruit and paints them accordingly. She simply uses this as a guide to carry out the best part of the process.

To create the illusion and texture of a real mold, she tops off each piece with precious and semi-precious gemstones. These include amethyst, emerald, onyx, opal, and quartz, to name a few. Her sculpture series consists mostly of lemons, oranges, and peaches with intricately depicted decomposition stages.

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Ryan took up Studio Art and Anthropology at Pitzer College and received her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Currently, she is represented by the Josh Lilley Gallery in London. Earlier this year, the artist successfully held solo exhibitions at various museums. Some of these include The New Art Gallery in Walsall, England and MIT’s List Visual Arts Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ryan also participated in the two-month Desert X exhibition held in Coachella, California.