work-statement

As a painter I'm interested in creating compositions, which incorporate or address time. I'm therefore strongly inspired by imagery that derives from this paradox, like a film still or a sequence of photographs. They suggest movement and change, yet being in a condition of stillness. My attraction to painting itself comes from this fascination with the still moment and the promise of change. My work is inspired by what appears to be the timeless extraction of one moment.

The exciting and challenging part is to capture that, which keeps the promise of change and motion, using the slow technique and the solid medium of oil paint. How can I translate neutral light compositions, surfaces of water, and sequences of time into something similarly light, with the inherent molecular structure of an oil painting? Something that keeps the neutral position of randomness even though it's created through the mode of subjectivity?

I'm strongly influenced by new technology, which has changed my approach to painting. In the past years I have been specifically interested in series of land- and seascapes, understanding reality as something that is subjectively and collectively created. Immanent to all of these pieces is the ongoing experiment with the format and its' relationship to the space. I work in series, which adds an invisible timeline as well as provides a space to play with compositions within a particular theme.

When I was a child I was told that I could catch a bird if I would sprinkle salt on its' tale. After I "learned" that this was impossible I continued to crawl underneath bushes and climb up trees a saltshaker in my hand. Even though it seemed impossible it was still true: I would catch the bird if I could sprinkle the salt on its' tale. In my work I allow this mixing of my desire with my attention on neutral, ever-present, never-lasting moments. The desire is my motivation. The moment is my inspiration. The bird is always sitting in my hand.

Julia Ruess,2004