ruth's profile
bio
Ruth Pettus came to the US in 1978 from Australia, prior to living in London. She arrived in Baltimore 1980. She had studied art history at University of Sydney, hoping to pursue a career in art restoration, and painting at the Corcoran School of Art. In 1988 she began to exhibit paintings in Baltimore and the mid- Atlantic region. In 1995 she started to work with old used shoes as well as continuing to paint and draw.
Her work has been shown in the US, Russia and Spain. She enjoys teaching and teaches painting in Baltimore and Spain, where she has a studio in the town of Chinchon, outside of Madrid.
Artist Statement:
I work with used/found shoes utilizing them as both simple metaphor and as sensual, visual text. Thus, my work can indicate transformation over time, a wearing out of the original form and emergence of new narratives and representations.
The variety and texture of the shoe emphasize the uniqueness, endurance and occasionally wit of individual experience.
In installation they can be understood as a dense mass of people where individuals are often lost or submerged under the burden of daily life, habit and routine. Massed on a table or floor, the work provides a contemplation of the shoes with their distinct historical traces and idiosyncrasies.
Viewed seperately they are small sculptures that speak of solo adventures.
"But now the salmon-fishers moist Their leather boats begin to hoist And like Antipodes in shoes
Have shod their heads in their canoes.
Andrew Marvel (1621-1678) Upn Appleton House
'
Personal Website: Visit Now
Contact: Email ruth
Resume: Download File
Ruth Pettus came to the US in 1978 from Australia, prior to living in London. She arrived in Baltimore 1980. She had studied art history at University of Sydney, hoping to pursue a career in art restoration, and painting at the Corcoran School of Art. In 1988 she began to exhibit paintings in Baltimore and the mid- Atlantic region. In 1995 she started to work with old used shoes as well as continuing to paint and draw.
Her work has been shown in the US, Russia and Spain. She enjoys teaching and teaches painting in Baltimore and Spain, where she has a studio in the town of Chinchon, outside of Madrid.
Artist Statement:
I work with used/found shoes utilizing them as both simple metaphor and as sensual, visual text. Thus, my work can indicate transformation over time, a wearing out of the original form and emergence of new narratives and representations.
The variety and texture of the shoe emphasize the uniqueness, endurance and occasionally wit of individual experience.
In installation they can be understood as a dense mass of people where individuals are often lost or submerged under the burden of daily life, habit and routine. Massed on a table or floor, the work provides a contemplation of the shoes with their distinct historical traces and idiosyncrasies.
Viewed seperately they are small sculptures that speak of solo adventures.
"But now the salmon-fishers moist Their leather boats begin to hoist And like Antipodes in shoes
Have shod their heads in their canoes.
Andrew Marvel (1621-1678) Upn Appleton House
'
Personal Website: Visit Now
Contact: Email ruth
Resume: Download File
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