Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 4
Ruth OwensGeorgia Lake, study I2023
2023
About the Item
Framed dimensions: 14h in x 20.5w in
RUTH OWENS graduated in 2018 with an MFA from the University of New Orleans after leaving her medical practice of 25 years. She is represented by the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, and belongs to the artist collective, “The Front,” both in New Orleans. Owens’ work is concerned with contributing to and preserving the black archive, and she uses personal super-8 film references in her painting and video art. Artist residencies include the Joan Mitchell Center, the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Vermont Studio Center, and the Studios at MASS MoCA. She is slotted to attend the International Studio and Curatorial Program in NY in 2023. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Ackland Art Museum at UNC-Chapel Hill, the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society, and 21c Museum.
"Georgia Lake, study I", by Ruth Owens, is an example of her signature style on paper. Ruth Owens uses studies like "Georgia Lake, study I" to explore composition and techniques, in order to inform her larger works on canvas.
The artist says of her work…
In the sixties, my father was stationed at a military base in the deep South for several years. Although it was prescribed by law, our mixed race family was perfectly happy to live in an exclusively African-American section of town. Our more respectable African-American neighbors refused to associate with us and we had very few friends, most of whom were marginalized by joblessness and alcoholism. A child of one of these families became a shadowy constant in our home. She had the typical facial features of fetal alcohol syndrome and we cared for her when her own mother was unable to do so. This girl’s struggles with alcoholic family problems echoed my own. We shared feelings of insecurity brought on by the alcoholism of her mother and my father.
My paintings and videos are rooted in such pivotal memories from childhood that represent significant psychological moments, set in a culture of racial divide. My family’s personal narrative includes issues like alcoholism which can plague any race or culture. However, as a mixed-race person, cultural power differentials based on race or skin tone (colorism) affect me on a daily basis and must also be considered when telling my story.
My communicative tools lie in an expressive and organic method of painting. The surfaces are scratched, left bare, glopped on, and dripped on for a mood consistent with the emotive content of the image. The surface not only becomes a metaphor for the vulnerability of our physical bodies, but it further represents an attempt to manifest the concept of a fluid racial identity.
My parents filmed events in my childhood with a Super 8 camera. This footage proves to be a valuable resource in mining my psychological past, and clips from these films serve as reference images for my paintings. To heighten the emotional and visual impact of these images, I use of collage, color alterations, compositional changes, and abstraction.
Clips from the Super 8 footage are also used in my video work, along with contemporary clips of my children. Mixing up footage of my children with clips of my childhood causes distortion and confusion of time, and speaks to the idea that past traumas are recorded in genetic memory. The videos inform any exhibition of my oil or casein paintings, and reinforce the feeling of getting an intimate view of a mixed-race family’s personal story through a cultural lens.
- Creator:Ruth Owens (1959, American, German)
- Creation Year:2023
- Dimensions:Height: 9.5 in (24.13 cm)Width: 16.5 in (41.91 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New Orleans, LA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU105213555902
About the Seller
5.0
Vetted Seller
These experienced sellers undergo a comprehensive evaluation by our team of in-house experts.
Established in 1998
1stDibs seller since 2015
138 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: <1 hour
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New Orleans, LA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
More From This SellerView All
- "See Me, Countryside, study II" -- Painting on paper by Ruth OwensBy Ruth OwensLocated in New Orleans, LAFramed dimensions: 15h in x 12.5w in RUTH OWENS graduated in 2018 with an MFA from the University of New Orleans after leaving her medical practice of 25 years. She is represented ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
MaterialsCasein, Pencil, Paper
- See Me SlopesideBy Ruth OwensLocated in New Orleans, LAARTIST STATEMENT RUTH OWENS graduated in 2018 with an MFA from the University of New Orleans after leaving her medical practice of 25 years. She is represented by Jonathan Ferrara G...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
MaterialsCasein, Paper
- Sunday SisterBy Ruth OwensLocated in New Orleans, LARUTH OWENS graduated in 2018 with an MFA from the University of New Orleans after leaving her medical practice of 25 years. She is represented by the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, and belongs to the artist collective, “The Front,” both in New Orleans. Owens’ work is concerned with contributing to and preserving the black archive, and she uses personal super-8 film references in her painting and video art. Artist residencies include the Joan Mitchell Center, the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Vermont Studio Center, and the Studios at MASS MoCA. She is slotted to attend the International Studio and Curatorial Program in NY in 2023. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Ackland Art Museum at UNC-Chapel Hill, the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society, and 21c Museum. The artist says of her work… In the sixties, my father was stationed at a military base in the deep South for several years. Although it was prescribed by law, our mixed race...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
MaterialsPaper, Ink, Casein
- Court LadiesBy Ruth OwensLocated in New Orleans, LAFramed Dimensions: 11.25h x 10w in RUTH OWENS graduated in 2018 with an MFA from the University of New Orleans after leaving her medical practice of 25 years. She is represented by the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, and belongs to the artist collective, “The Front,” both in New Orleans. Owens’ work is concerned with contributing to and preserving the black archive, and she uses personal super-8 film references in her painting and video art. Artist residencies include the Joan Mitchell Center, the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Vermont Studio Center, and the Studios at MASS MoCA. She is slotted to attend the International Studio and Curatorial Program in NY in 2023. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Ackland Art Museum at UNC-Chapel Hill, the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society, and 21c Museum. The artist says of her work… In the sixties, my father was stationed at a military base in the deep South...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
MaterialsPaper, Casein
- DevotionBy Ruth OwensLocated in New Orleans, LAFramed Dimensions: 13h x 11w in RUTH OWENS graduated in 2018 with an MFA from the University of New Orleans after leaving her medical practice of 25 years. She is represented by the...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
MaterialsPaper, Casein
- Adieu, Gaugin, studyBy Ruth OwensLocated in New Orleans, LAFramed Dimensions: 16.25h x 11w in RUTH OWENS graduated in 2018 with an MFA from the University of New Orleans after leaving her medical practice of 25 years. She is represented by ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
MaterialsCasein, Paper
You May Also Like
- Carpathian AncestorLocated in Washington, DCOne of a kind painting by Noche Crist (1909- 2004). Noche Crist was an American artist born in Romania. Painting is on casein paint on plaster on board. Catalogue of a postumous retr...Category
1960s Outsider Art Figurative Paintings
MaterialsCasein, Plaster, Wood
- A Lion Mangled Me - A Man Eating LionLocated in Miami, FLUsing brilliant compositional devices and late afternoon light, Frank McCarthy captures a man at the precise moment before death. The scene is staged wi...Category
1960s American Realist Animal Paintings
MaterialsCasein, Board
- Water Hunters ( Cowboys in the Old West )By Stevan DohanosLocated in Miami, FLMeticulously rendered account of three prospectors trying to rustle up some water before they can dig up some gold. Magazine Illustration of the Old West, American West, Cowboys Casein on board, Western / Frontier Art...Category
1950s American Realist Figurative Paintings
MaterialsCasein
- Many-Worlds Interpretation (H.C.H.P)By Colin HuntLocated in New York, NYLooking at a painting by Colin Hunt is like watching someone pass through a hole in our consciousness. As the landscape refracts through the sitter’s absence and fills that emptiness...Category
2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings
MaterialsEgg Tempera, Panel
- Durga, Indian Goddess, Tempera on Board, Red, Yellow by Indian Artist "In Stock"By Atin BasakLocated in Kolkata, West BengalAtin Basak - Durga - 30 x 24 inches ( Unframed Size ) Tempera on Board The work will be shipped unframed . Inclusive of shipment in roll form. Style : Atin Basak says that his rece...Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
MaterialsTempera, Board
- Robe 2By Fides BeckerLocated in Morongo Valley, CA'Robe 2' 2005, Acrylic and Egg Tempura on Canvas and Cotton Canvas, 210 x 160 cm The leading theme of the artist’s interventions is the staging of temporality, transience, and chang...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic, Egg Tempera