




SORA
was a place holder for this exhibition. What was to be my first solo exhibition
in NYC changed several times. I started making work for the show late 2020,
because of global events, I found myself without a studio and having to
build a new one. Start fresh.
Late
in 2020 I also received an email to change the dates of the show and
compress it. I continued working.
At
a point I realised the show would be made up of some AIR paintings on paper and
some AIR painting discs. When making the AIR paintings I have a large catalogue
of photographs, writing and watercolour studies that I can look back on, these
sometimes get made into digital studies of the works. I never stop making
and collecting these. When I make the AIR paintings, I do so in bursts and
reference this catalogue/memories to make a show.
After
having completed the show and finalising titles, I realised the date and time
range started when I was just back from Berlin. I was waiting for hand surgery,
then through moving to Melbourne, waiting through lockdowns, being kicked out
of a studio, setting up a new one, having personal hardships and deciding to
put down roots. Before this it felt like I was living with my bags packed.
SORA comes up as a fictional character’s name, I
interpret it to be level, calm and powerful. In Japanese it is non
gender specific and means sky/void. It is also the name I gave to my cat. After
some time as a place holder and thinking that it would be weird to name a show
after a cat, named after a fictional character. I realised that the name
relates to this time in my life where I am striving to be level, calm and powerful.











RYAN HOFFMANN STUDIO © 2022 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED
RYAN HOFFMANN STUDIO © 2022 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED