Nick Ryan Gallery presents Left to Steep, a two-person exhibition in the downstairs gallery featuring Kansas City–based artists Ky Anderson and Alex Skorija. The exhibition includes a new body of abstract paintings and an entirely new series of clay sculptures by Anderson, alongside Skorija’s paintings on canvas as well as works on paper and cardboard.
Ky Anderson (b. 1973, Kansas City, Missouri) has exhibited extensively throughout the United States and internationally, with solo and group exhibitions and art fair presentations across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Her work has been shown in public institutions, is represented by several galleries nationwide, and is held in numerous public and private collections worldwide.
After living in Brooklyn for 25 years, Anderson relocated to Kansas City in 2020. She earned her BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute. Ideas are central to Anderson’s abstract paintings. Drawing from a visual language developed over time and a wide range of references, she works through an ongoing process of improvisation and translation. Often painting multiple works simultaneously, she allows each piece to inform the next, creating interconnected bodies of work that evolve over years.
Alex Skorija’s paintings construct abstract spaces that retain traces of familiar forms. Working across oil, gouache, ink, and distemper, Skorija explores the tactile qualities of his surfaces through layering and varied application. His compositions are structured yet ambiguous, balancing suggested windows, silhouettes, and stacked landscapes that hover at the edge of recognition without settling into a singular identity.
Skorija (b. 1988, Kansas City) lives and works in Kansas City, Missouri. He received his BFA from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Recent solo exhibitions include Side by Side (2026), 3West, Kansas City; Slow Train (2025), Plug Projects, Kansas City; Study Group (2023), Kansas City Public Library; Leadlight (2023), Kiosk Gallery, Kansas City; and Red Apples, Green Apples (2022), The Ekru Project, Kansas City. Recent group exhibitions include Pungent Pollen(2025), Utopia, Kingston, New York; Shelf Show (2025), MONUMENT, Kingston, New York; A True Thing That Stays Secret (2024), Troost Gardens, Kansas City; and Vessels (2024), United Colors, Kansas City.
