Playing with Fire

Abstract

In the exhibition Playing with Fire, Ryan McGlone uses perspective, scale, repetition, contrast, and composition to address emotions surrounding nostalgia and war. A confrontational artistic style is used for the current body of work. Mixed media of clay, wood, and wood burning are used to create the large hanging wall sculptures. Thousands of slip-casted toy miniature soldiers represent armies as an undefined mass contrasted with individual soldiers burned into large wood panels depicting war scenes. The thesis examines nostalgia, perspective, scale, contrast, repetition and composition to engage the viewer’s own perspectives.