Cult artist publishes new book called ‘A Sky Full Of Kindness’
Rob Ryan – the cult artist who has collaborated with Paul Smith, and been featured in Vogue – has released his latest work in book form. ‘A Sky Full Of Kindness’ is a dark fairy tale written and illustrated by Ryan: it tells the story of two married birds expecting their first child, and goes on to address their apprehension about raising their child in an age full of fear and anxiety. Ultimately it becomes an exploration of the nature of unconditional love.
Each page of this fairy tale is decorated by Ryan’s trademark laser-cut paper panels, and the book reportedly took six month to create – a reality that is evidenced in the intricacy and detail of the final product.
‘A Sky Full Of Kindness’ was released on the 13th October through Sceptre Books. To correlate with this release, Ryan has also produced a limited edition laser-cut – an adaption of one of the book’s pages in an edition of 250. It bears a text that reads:
‘We promise by the spirits of all the birds that have ever been, that are and ever will be, that we will care for this child. Every feather, every bone and beak is precious to us and every bird in our small community and to the greater family of all the birds. We promise to keep the egg safe. We promise to keep the child safe. We promise to help this small, small bird in this big, big world.’
Rob Ryan (born 1962) is a British visual artist famous for his detailed paper cut outs. Ryan’s work has previously been deployed for a Lulu Guinness a charity project, been featured on Tatty Devine’s jewellery, and have even taken sculpture form for a piece in in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. ‘A Sky Full of Kindness’ is not in fact his first foray into the world of books, having illustrated the covers of books including John Connolly’s novel ‘The Book of Lost’, and Dara Horn’s ‘The World to Come’. He published his first book, another fairy tale, on October 4, 2007 by Hodder & Stoughton. It explored themes of love and loneliness.
Words Mike Philo © 2011 ArtLyst