This Artist’s Mysterious Paintings Look Like Otherworldly Portals

Melbourne-based artist Ryan Hoffman and cat Sora inside his studio. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files

Ryan creates enchanting circular hangings from his Melbourne studio in the old Ericsson Factory. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files

‘As for the material itself, my aim has always been to look at traditional materials and practices and manipulate them a little, for instance the disks are cast out of paint,’ Ryan says. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files

Ryan at work. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files

‘The oil paint I use is made from minerals, so they all have different coarseness, depth, dyeing ability, opacity, drying rates… you must treat every colour uniquely.’ Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files

Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files

Ryan’s beloved cat Sora accompanies him in the studio. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files

Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files

Ryan says Sora often comes camping and travelling with him! Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files

Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files

He created this unique lamp, ‘A quiet house’ for Melbourne Design Week last year! Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files

Ryan says he’s about ready to lock himself away to find his next phase of his work. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files

‘I used to make figurative paintings before [my current work], but it was art school work, I was just learning. I am now too.’ Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files

Ryan Hoffmann is a self-professed ‘art kid’. He was 17 when he started his fine arts degree at the National Art School, where he earned a scholarship that took him to the Glasgow School of Art, where he completed his masters.

He’s been working as a full-time artist since 2015, has featured in local and international exhibitions, and spent time living in Sydney, Berlin, and Melbourne. On a professor’s suggestion, he recently spent a year living and working in his studio with ‘no social media, no exhibitions and no art books – I just made what I felt’ Ryan says.

What he emerged with is his current series of intriguing circular artworks. The works are somewhere between sculpture and paintings, thanks to Ryan’s unique technique building layered brush strokes onto disks he ‘casts out of paint’, using a mixture of synthetic polymers and minerals. Ranging from 100-200cm tall, they take almost eight weeks to create!

‘My aim has always been to look at traditional materials and practices and manipulate them a little,’ Ryan says.

Colour is a big part of his work too. Nature inspires many of his choices, with the artist drawing on references from the changing sky, to leaves blowing in the wind. ‘I play with them a bit, make little samples, and try to push something in a direction,’ Ryan adds.

Ryan’s chosen titles for his artworks feature time stamps and locations, derived from the specific moments and feelings he’s capturing. ‘To look is to find. Mount Martha, 3:25pm, 04/02/2022’ showcases a gradient of ocean blue tones, while other works offer more abstract insights behind the blurring gradients of pastel or vibrant colours.

To us, these captivating circles feel almost like portals into another space and time. But for Ryan, they serve as a glimpse into memories drawn from his own experiences. ‘The real subject is me, exploring what’s happening in my life’ he explains, somewhat cryptically. Consider us intrigued!

Explore Ryan’s work through Sophie Gannon Gallery here