Ryan Roa's 'Stress Points' exhibition explores physical combat with industrial materials

Ryan Roa's exhibition 'Stress Points' runs through January 8 at gallery nine 5 on New York's Lower East Side. The Hunter College graduate, now based in Beacon, NY, creates sculptures and installations using raw industrial materials like steel, wood, and rubber. Roa describes his practice as focused on the act of making rather than the finished object, emphasizing physical interaction between his body and materials. He compares his process to boxing or military tactics, beginning with systematic geometric structures before entering a raw emotional state of reaction. The artist acknowledges influences from art history including Rodin, Brancusi, and minimalist artists like Frank Stella, Carl Andre, and Robert Morris, but distinguishes his work by embracing human emotion and physical struggle. Roa's installations often involve intense physical engagement, sometimes resulting in injury during creation, though exhibited works are secured for safety. His materials—typically hidden structural elements like steel and wood—reference trauma, facade, and the body through skeletal forms, ribcage-like bungee sculptures, and suspended steel objects. The work explores universal forces of physics, engineering principles, and the uncertainty of matter under tension.