Ryan Presley was born in 1987 in Alice Springs. His family originated from Moyle River region, Northern Territory. He has lived and worked in Brisbane. His art practice is a reflection of his locale which he audits and critiques to mount a larger inquiry that interrogates the articulations of power.
Moving through a variety of artistic mediums and expressions his approach could often be described as ‘post-disciplinary’. This frequently results in using different visual tools appropriate for the execution of a particular body of work. Previously these have included print-making, oil painting, sculpture and new media with drawing and draughtsmanship used as the cornerstone to these methods.
Presley’s work has been acquired by the Queensland University Museum of Art and Murdoch University’s art collections. He undertook a PhD at the Queensland College of Art.