Newsletter 22 | September 2015 Feature

Individuality is important for artists of all trades, and Morgan Ryan represents utter uniqueness in her craft. She has reimagined entities and our perspectives, showcasing her artistic skill in conjunction with incredible expression. Some of her work, which can be found on her website, causes you to see the female body for what it is and can be. She truly knows how to evoke thought. Get to know this exceptional young talent.

Meet Morgan

Morgan Ryan A.K.A. Cross-Eyed Morgan
In her own words…

I am often drawn to dark and creepy imagery, which is what I generally try to create. I’m mainly inspired by sci-fi, fantasy, punk, macabre and the grotesque. But sometimes I like bright and happy things too! I also like cutesy, pastel colours, adorable little creatures, and pretty pin ups.

Currently I am continuing to experiment and grow with my oil paintings and watercolours. I also started sketching again a while ago, and noticed that what I draw seems to be a bit different to what I paint, so I plan to re-create some of these as paintings to find more of my own style. Some of these paintings will be available for sale on Etsy, though I’m also open to offers.

Craft-wise I am mainly knitting my skulls which can be bought as brooches, hair-clips, patches, and earrings. I intend to keep making my little sculpted items (cartoony skull pendents etc) and sewing clothing with interesting textiles.

Q&A Session With Morgan

Q: What led you to your profession?
My whole family is quite creative. My parents drew and painted, and my sister and I both studied Fine Arts, while my brother is considering studying music, so there’s always cool imagery and sounds around me.

Q: What struggles have you faced within it?
I found my degree a struggle, because I do find Fine Arts recently but realised that I don’t feel comfortable in that world. I’m not sure I fit in there, and some of my work I think would fit into the lowbrow category. I want to exhibit my work more, but the spaces around me mainly don’t seem to show work as figurative as mine, so I plan to organise my own exhibitions in future. It’s hard balancing work, life, and art, finding time for everything.

Q: Has your background influenced your work?

I don’t have a particularly interesting background, so I’m not sure if it has, but my general life does sometimes influence my work. Mostly I just paint what I feel like painting, but some of my favourite works from the past have been based on emotional times for me.

Q: What is a typical day for you?

I work full-time in a shoe store, so most days just include getting ready for work and then tidying up my clothes when I get home! But I finish early on some days and that’s when I book some time for myself to paint. I write to-do lists for each week so that I know ahead of time when I will have time to paint, and if there isn’t enough time I’ll promote my facebook page by sharing it etc or do other smaller creative things.

Q: What would you suggest to young artists?

Just keep making work, and then make more. One thing that really helped me at uni was constantly making lots of work, it meant I could experiment and just keep going without over-thinking it (as that is definitely something I’ll do sometimes).

Q: If you weren’t an artist, what career would you have chosen?

As I said I currently work full-time in a shoe store, and there I am a Stock-Coordinator, meaning I do a bit of selling but I also open and send packages, correct stock errors etc etc. I consider this just a job, not a career, but I would be interested in pursuing stock roles in Head Offices as a career, as it mainly consists of being organised and fixing things and I like that. I’ve recently been thinking about how I used to really like Biology and Genetics and I wonder if I would want to be a Scientist one day.

Q: What do you do in your down time?

My art is what I do in my down time!! But besides that I hang out at my boyfriend’s house watching him play video games, and occasionally venture out to catch up with friends. We’ve recently started going to Poetry Slams which has been amazing.

Q: Where do you see yourself in 2025?

I really have no idea! I want to travel so I hope I’ve managed to get myself together enough to have already done a big trip before 2025. I’d like to think I’m in a stable job, whether it’s part of full time, stock or art related, just something to have some definite cash that I can put towards art, and hopefully my art would help sustain me too! I’d like to have more people know who I am so I can have more interesting opportunities worldwide.

Q: Do you have inspiring words you live by?

I don’t actually, I just try to live my life with respect for other people and in turn be respected by them.

Morgan Ryan’s Gala

Her art is precision as well as creative freedom, evoking emotion.
Visit the artist’s website for more!

Love Always,
Veronica ✌❤