FOR internationally acclaimed sculptor and artist Sophie Ryder, making art is much more than a profession, it is a compulsion.

Most fulfilled when she is able to immerse herself body and soul in the process of making, Sophie communicates her ideas on a monumental scale, using a wide range of materials including sawdust, wet plaster, old machine parts and toys, weld joins and angle grinders, wire ‘pancakes’, torn scraps of paper, charcoal sticks and acid baths. She moves around her work, interacting with it from every conceivable angle, watching it grow in front of her eyes, describing the experience: “It’s important for me to actually physically work on a piece, that’s why I like making big sculptures. …When I’m slapping on great handfuls of plaster and I draw my fingers down, the plaster oozes between them, so I have those three lines between my fingers that really make the texture… and I hammer them and I kick them and I knock the plaster off and I throw it from ten feet.”

Sophie’s sculpture is designed with public spaces in mind, competing with large buildings in an urban context and holding its own against the grandeur of nature in a landscape setting.

From May 3 New Brewery Arts will be showing some of her larger figurative pieces, including the eponymous The Kiss: giant clasped hands. Much of the work depicts body parts, isolated from their anatomical context, underlining the humanity that lies at the core of Ryder’s work.

The exhibition also features small scale bronze pieces, works on paper and films of Sophie at work.

Visitors are invited to experience the sculpture up close and personal in the New Brewery Arts gallery and carry that inspiration through to two practical workshops at the Cirencester art and craft centre in May and June. Students can make ‘A Hand in a Day’ on Sunday, May 11, using the beautifully pliable qualities of clay under the expert tuition of figurative sculptor Val Adamson. Artist Laurie Plant will encourage students to study Sophie’s work and identify basic shapes to enable them to simplify ‘Drawing Hands And Feet’ on Saturday, June 14. Workshop details and costs are on the New Brewery Arts website at www.newbreweryarts.org.uk Sophie will also be taking part in a special fundraising event on behalf of the New Brewery Arts charity, which designs and runs art and craft making projects for people from elderly care homes, special schools and other local community organisations. ‘Sophie Ryder in Conversation’ will be an exclusive two course lunch taking place in the gorgeous surroundings of Calcot Manor in Tetbury on Saturday, June 14. Art lovers and fans of Sophie’s work are advised to book early as, at only £37.50 per person, places are sure to be snapped up quickly. Bookings are available online on the New Brewery Arts website.

The results of just one art project will be on show in the New Brewery Arts theatre from May 14 to June 4. The charity works every year with special schools, helping children express their creativity and giving them a platform to show their work. This year is no exception, with budding artists being challenged to respond to Sophie’s work in the gallery.

So, in parallel with The Kiss, a special schools exhibition called ‘Creatures of the Imagination’, sponsored by St James’s Place and Cirencester Girls Club, is an exhibition of work inspired by oversized body parts, mystical creatures, myths and legends. It will be, literally, a fantastic show.

Meet Sophie Ryder at The Kiss exhibition opening and book signing on Saturday, May 3 from 2 to 4pm.

Sophie Ryder Exhibition at New Brewery Arts iIn association with Wetpaint Gallery, Sat May 3 – Sun, June 29