British, Contemporary, 5,000 year old bog oak, in a limited edition of twelve.
Brought to The Walk by Barnsley Workshop, Stand No. 120.
Artist - James Ryan continues the Barnsley Workshop legacy of exquisitely crafted functional objects that edge into sculptural territory. Within a studio culture that prizes handwork, clarity of line and the quiet drama of timber, Ryan treats furniture as a site where use, memory and material history converge. Recent pieces center on forms that invite the body to move while also slowing the eye, encouraging a more contemplative engagement with everyday structures.
Work – Aspire 2025 is the latest evolution of Ryan’s library steps, and is carved from 5,000‑year‑old English bog oak, the work layers function with deep geological time, its darkened surfaces bearing witness to a tree that has twice been unearthed, first by a landowner who reburied it for safekeeping and then by a later generation who reclaimed it as workable timber.