Spike Island lies between Bristol’s inner streets and its harbor area, between a tea-packing factory and the docks. Over the last year, for an extended residency, it has been home to the British artist Veronica Ryan. Through sculptures that suggest the recurring forms and objects of the natural world, Ryan explores sociopolitical issues. For her largest show yet, she uses plant items that were traded between countries—cocoa pods, seeded skins, fruit stones—and casts them in clay and bronze. Some of the pieces are glazed with volcanic ash from Alliouagana, the native word for the island of Montserrat. —E.C.