Biography

Since 1976 Marne Ryan has been exploring, developing and teaching the process of making textures through heat, and has been called a "constructive pyromaniac". Her jewelry and vessels have won national and international awards and recognition in the United States, Japan, Europe, and Australia. Patterns are created by fusing thin layers of silver, high karat gold, and platinum together in sheets to form fabrics of metal. This material is then made into hollowware, vessels and jewelry. In recent years her interests have expanded to include hollow-formed vessels made from copper and silver. Marne is very interested in creating larger pieces so people are better able to see the textures that she's been exploring through the use of different tools. Many of her pieces are used to mark rights of passage i.e., marriage, birth-death, graduation and personal transitions. The piece of jewelry or vessel becomes part of the ritual in one's life. This level of intimacy is the ultimate goal of her work.

Artist Statement

I love to play with fire, suspending the rules of what can’t be done with metal and integrating the elegance of form and function within the barely controlled chaos of my life.