Seated minotaur and hare

In choosing the motif of a minotaur in her work, Sophie Ryder cites the influence of Picasso and his ferocious Minotaur. Ryder’s Minotaur is different however, she has said that he is “not threatening but strong, loving and protective but sometimes quite camp”. Ryder was searching for a companion for her Minotaur. She says that “The Lady Hare came about when I was looking for a companion for the Minotaur. I wanted a female body with an animal head, and the hare seemed to work really well”. The artist is fascinated by hybrids, and in her ‘Lady Hare’ motif Ryder depicts hares with human figures. The female body of the hare is usually based on Ryder’s own. More recently the head of the Lady Hare has become more obviously a mask, so that we know she has a human head underneath. Ryder uses all sorts of materials in her sculptures, including old machine parts, toys, sawdust and wire, which create a very textured and tactile finish to the bronze sculpture.

1994

Bronze with green patina

37.0cm

816

© Sophie Ryder. Image courtesy of The Ingram Collection

This work is part of The Ingram Collection of Modern British & Contemporary Art and was on loan to the Lightbox for the exhibition "Redressing the balance: Women Artists from The Ingram Collection" (11 August - 20 September 2020).