“All of my work is figurative in origin. For years I have been exploring the sensual relationship between landform and human form. By framing details of the figure as if through a lens, then changing the scale, one can have both a more intimate relationship to the form and separation from its human reference. I have always been intrigued by the way in which form originates from and returns to an unseen source: the invisible interior. When sculpting people I am interested in the essence of the person. I perceive beauty as authenticity, not perfection. I have been exploring my own conflict between my love for beauty in the physical form and my striving to go beyond the surface in the expression of that beauty. Some of the work deals with the juxtaposition of how a woman may be perceived externally, and her internal experience. In all the work, I have a great reverence for grace and attempt to find a balance between sensuality and power.”

“I sculpt from life in clay. People often assume that I take castings directly from the human body. As a result, for many years, I worked primarily smaller, or substantially larger, than life-size. This is no longer the case. I have recently been working on a series of life-size pieces of women I love, of all ages. I produce work in small editions and also create unique pieces.
The clay pieces are either fired or I make a mold and cast into a variety of materials, such as bronze, polyester resin, aluminum and stainless steel. The pieces are sometimes glazed and re-fired or hand painted with acrylic or oils.”

Tanya was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She started drawing and sculpting from a very young age. By the time she was fifteen, Tanya was studying anatomy, which included sketching cadavers at the USC medical center. She learned the lost wax casting process by making jewelry in her teens- always conceptually figurative. She also studied many forms of dance: modern, jazz, and ballet and was performing in a ballet company before going to college.

Tanya Ragir graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1976 with a B.A. in Art and Dance. Her work is in permanent collections of the Total Art Museum, Seoul, Korea; Rose Museum at Brandeis University; Columbia College of Dance; and Cerro Cosa College. Her work has been internationally collected and is represented in the Frederick Weisman collection, among others. “Moment in Time”, a large public commission for the City of Brea, was recently installed, and she is currently working on a site specific project for the Joffrey Ballet Company of Chicago

Tanya lives in West Los Angeles with her son Jonah. Her daughter Sophie, is attending Barnard College in New York.