Metamorphosis can refer to processes both natural and supernatural; but the works in Douglas Tausik Ryder’s exhibition of this title, while they reference the commonly understood biomorphic dimension, also encompass a much larger domain: the metamorphosis between organic or biomorphic motives and purely abstract design, and between a very cerebral, infinitely multi-dimensional world of pure imagination and the concrete physical world. In technique and approach, Ryder is drawn to the organic and biomorphic – in effect a figurative vocabulary, but one that immediately ‘morphs’ in completely unpredictable directions. Although, Ryder teases out this technique in sculptures that bear the influence of a number of modernist movements (the aforementioned biomorphic, Futurist, and Pop), the dominant influence here is Arp. Ryder is drawn to a certain eccentricity in the geometries and mathematics of certain forms – volumes organized around a void or bubble; or simply spatial eccentricities – the fold, wrap, or simply flaw, a tear in space (and resultant extrusions). His techniques and execution have evolved in tandem with his ideas – a reversal of the imaginative process, breaking the forms down mechanically and digitally recomposing by computer program driven milling, machining and fabrication. Although he has executed a few bronzes here, Ryder’s material of choice is wood, which looks a bit like liquefied wood paneling – its sensuality offset by the verticals of the wood panels. Whether veering in the direction of an Oldenburg donut (Shadow, 2016) or Noguchi (Venus, 2015), Ryder finds a way to continually surprise with an eccentric slice (or bite), the odd turn, wrap or cutaway, revealing a runaway imagination that will not be impeded even by its own concrete realization.

Jason Vass Gallery
1452 E. Sixth Street
Los Angeles, CA 90021
Show runs thru February 26, 2017