Sophie Ryder (born 1963) is a British sculptor. Her imaginary world is populated by mystical hybrid creatures bound together in intimate and affectionate companionship. Although best known for her huge wire sculptures, Ryder uses many other materials - bronze, wet plaster embedded with old machine parts, sheet metal, marble, and stained glass. Drawing, painting and printmaking have always been central to her artistic practice and are a vital creative counterpoint to her sculptural work. Sophie Ryder's work is instantly recognizable and she is one of Britain’s most well known sculptors. Over the last 30 years, she has built a personal repertoire of mythological figures and motifs, many examples of which are now in important public and private collections, particularly in the UK and USA. Tender and self-aware, her hybrid creatures encapsulate mythology’s significance: steeped in cultural symbolism, they nevertheless resonate on an immediate and human level. Two of her most enduring figures, the Minotaur and the Hare (whose body is based on Ryder’s own), address a complex range of human emotions, from introspection to desire.

The child of a French mother and English father, Ryder was born in London and spent her summers in the south of France. Art was always her ambition and she enrolled in the Royal Academy Schools aged 18, the youngest student after J.M.W. Turner ever to be admitted. Her work has followed a personal and organic trajectory, growing in ambition and scale along with her own technical ability. Her unique materials add a layer of intrigue, with twisted wire, wet plaster and sawdust joining old machine parts and bits of scavenged children's toys in exquisitely textured sculptures. When asked about what influences her, Ryder replies, "I don't sit and contemplate what it is I am trying to achieve. My head is full of ideas all the time. It is part of my life. I don't plan anything, it just comes." When asked why she portrays hares she replied, "Well, I find it difficult answering that question because I don't really know the answer. It's the same as asking me why I make sculptures, and the answer is, because I feel driven to. So it's difficult to always pin down reasons. My introduction to hares was when my lurcher dog would proudly bring hares home and drop them at my feet."

Ryder’s work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions since the late 1980s, including shows at Berkeley Square Gallery, London; Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford; Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids; Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal; Newport City Museum & Art Gallery; Odapark, Venray, Netherlands; Salisbury Cathedral; Victoria Art Gallery, Bath; and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Public and corporate collections that hold her work include Barings Bank; Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum; De Beers Collection; The National Trust; The Private Bank and Trust Company Ltd; Robert and Mary Montgomery Armory Arts Center, Palm Beach; and Victoria Art Gallery, Bath.