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LAND-SHIFT : Art Works by Desiree deRuiter

Thu. May 11th 2017 - Sun. May 28th 2017 please see our "about" page to view current gallery hours. to schedule a viewing, please email the fifty fifty arts collective.
LAND-SHIFT : Art Works by Desiree deRuiter

This show is a compilation of two types of work.

The first, larger group reflects the title of the show LAND-SHIFT. These pieces are altered images of landscape that reflect the subtle unease of place. They create tension between the allure and menace of the natural world.

In my work I use the repetition of printmaking to my advantage. Though historically printmaking was predominantly used for mass production it is now often limited to small-scale projects. I use both its production capacity and its miniature plate to create large monoprints through ordered and precise collage, making many similar but varied images within the larger whole. I begin with an image, pull it apart into separate entities, then merge these separate entities into a fractured whole.

By pulling apart and reforming these images of place I address the challenges of the changing world and the subtle balance of beauty and unease.

The mezzotint prints that make up the second group of artwork address intimacy through the making of the plate, the selection of the image, the study of the subject, and the prolonged toil of printing the plate. Still being young in the world of mezzotint, I find the making of a mezzotint plate to be an incredibly intimate process that demands quiet, familiar subjects from me.

The three larger prints, displaying soft materials in three different forms, are studies of personal, silent materials of everyday existence. Their disheveled state, when focused in on, has its own unimposing beauty.

This mezzotint group also contains self-portraits, body studies, and images of cocoons and transformation: all subjects that require a certain level of intimacy from myself.