Ray Readdy was born in 1945, and was brought up in south east London; he qualified in mechanical engineering and worked until retirement as a draughtsman and later as a design engineer. Inspired by the works of the surrealists such as Magritte and De Chirico he started painting in his early twenties working in acrylic and oil. He joined a group called 'Free Painters & Sculptors' in London and exhibited in several local exhibitions. In 2001 he had a solo show in the Crypt Gallery of St Martin in the Fields, London that brought together over fifty paintings under the title of 'Journey into Abstraction'.

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Since his retirement Ray has concentrated on working in sculpture where he has found a new freedom to experiment, creating works that have made good use of his engineering background. Using wood, metal, resin, plastics, fibreglass and found objects he has created over forty sculptures that all use juxtaposition to reflect contemporary issues in a clever and often amusing way. Ray has developed a unique sculpture style that is both witty and varied in scope and vision – some deal with the Western world's obsession with materialism, consumerism and greed, others make uncomfortable statements about war and the use of weaponry whilst others mock fashion and advertising trends. All give a fresh and unusual insight into political, social issues whilst exposing the often frivolous and absurd nature of the human condition.