WEST BRETTON, UK.- Yorkshire Sculpture Park presents Sophie Ryder, on view through November 2, 2008. Sophie Ryder's association with YSP began in 1986 with a residency immediately after graduating from the RA Schools. Now an internationally acclaimed artist, this significant exhibition provides an opportunity to examine her work and presents powerful sculpture made in the last decade alongside new pieces, large drawings in wire and works on paper.

Ryder's work examines the human condition through anthropomorphic and dream imagery, combining animal and human forms, attitudes and instincts. She expresses emotion and sexuality within the female or mother figure (as in the Lady-Hare) and reveals her relationship to the child, the dog and the minotaur, which is the antithesis of the female persona or spirit of the hare.

Sophie herself is the model for her sculpture and drawing; she takes attitudes and poses from her own body which are repeatedly drawn and made in wire and bronze in an attempt to respond to the world she inhabits. Longside Gallery features Ryder’s stunning wire wall drawings; dislocated images of eyes, hands and feet, alongside large free-standing wire sculptures, through which visitors can walk. In the open air, monumental wire works and a series of bronzes continue to explore Ryder’s iconic themes: the lady-hare, minotaur, and dog. Eye, a large-scale wire work, is dramatically suspended against the landscape and sky on the walking route to Longside. This exhibition creates a dialogue between indoor and outdoor; an exploratory journey of dramatic work, which closely references the history and life of the land.