Patricia Ayres’ works draw from structures of societal constraint, such as the ritual morality of Catholicism, systems of incarceration in the United States, and ideals of the body. Informed in part by her education in fashion, the sculptures are shaped by Ayres’ process, elaborating upon her conceptual sources.
She builds each sculpture by wrapping yards of elastic, slowly developing a corporeal form that is at once imposing and vulnerable. Many works are bound by latched harnesses or pierced with butcher’s hooks, and affixed with parachute hardware, then stained with materials precious to her practice: anointing oil, sacramental wine, iodine, ink, and what she describes as “gunk.” Their coverings, between skin and garment, are stretched tight across their forms, both innate to the works and in struggle with their shape.
Between her totemic figures, wall-mounted cocoons, and amorphous floor works, her sculptures hold an uncanny presence in the gallery. Ayres’ practice navigates anxiety, rebellion, and sexuality, in a world created and stifled by its own influences.
Patricia Ayres (b. 1975, New York, USA) lives and works in New York.
Ayres attended The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2019. She received her MFA from Hunter College in 2018, BFA from Brooklyn College in 2015, and an A.A.S degree in Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 1995. Her recent solo exhibitions include Singular Views: 25 Artists, The Rubell Museum, Washington D.C., USA (2023); Critical Mass, Mendes Wood DM, New York, NY, USA (2023); Patricia Ayres, The Rubell Museum, Miami, FL, USA (2022); and Bound, Matthew Brown, Los Angeles, CA, USA (2021).
Her recent group exhibitions include Fresh & Flowers: Made in America, curated by Lauren Taschen, NoName Creative Projects, Paris, France (2023); House in Motion / New Perspectives, de la Cruz Collection, Miami, FL, USA (2023); Field of Vision, curated by Tina Pētersone, Zuzeum, Riga, Latvia (2023); New Full and Pure: Body, Materiality, Gender, Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas, TX, USA (2023); Esfíngico Frontal, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brazil (2023); Together, At The Same Time, de la Cruz Collection, Miami (2022); Matter & Form, The Bunker Artspace, West Palm Beach, FL, USA (2022); Some Kind of Monster Roster, Analog Diary, Beacon, NY, USA (2022); This Basic Asymmetry, Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, CA, USA (2022); Reflections Part 3: Sculpture by Women Artists, Workplace, London, UK (2022); and Entering A Song, Koenig and Clinton Gallery, New York, NY, USA (2019).
Ayres was recently Artist-in-Residence at UrbanGlass Fellowship, NY, USA (2023) and Dieu Donné Workspace Program, NY, USA (2022). Her previous residencies and fellowships include Shandaken: Storm King Sculpture Park, NY, USA (2022); Fountainhead, Miami, FL, USA (2022); Monira Foundation, NJ, USA (2021); Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program, NY, USA (2019); Lower Manhattan Cultural Center: Su-Casa, NY, USA (2020), The Studios at MASS MoCA, MA, USA (2019). NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Sculpture/Craft, NY, USA (2020); Rema Hort Mann Foundation Emerging Artist Grant Nominee (2019).
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