Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 2
Ruth OwensRest Stop2023
2023
About the Item
Framed Dimensions: 13h x 9.50w 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 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: 10 in (25.4 cm)Width: 6.6 in (16.77 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New Orleans, LA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU105211852832
Ruth Owens
Ruth Owens was born to a young German woman and a Black serviceman from Georgia. The nomadic military lifestyle of her childhood was complicated by restrictions to mixed families in many communities and laid the basis for the formation of her cultural identity. She will graduate with a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of New Orleans after quitting her medical practice of over 25 years. She will continue her artistic pursuits showing with Jonathan Ferrara Gallery of New Orleans, and participating in an artist collective called The Front located in that city’s St. Claude art corridor. Further, the well-respected Vermont Studio Center awarded Ruth an artist residency, which she will attend in July 2018. Notable solo shows include “Baby Love” in 2018 at the University of New Orleans Gallery, “Conspiracies” in 2017 at Barrister’s Gallery in New Orleans, and “Steppin' Out” at Bellarmine Chapel Gallery in 2016. Ruth Owens has also participated in numerous group shows including the “Currents, 2018,” at A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, “Honey Trap,” at The Front Gallery, New Orleans, LA, “Image and Text” 2017, at Site: Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, “LA Contemporary, 2015” at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, “Contemporary Artists Respond to the New Orleans Baby Dolls,” 2015, at the McKenna Museum of African American Art, “Imago Mundi: New Orleans: Repatriation,” Prospect.3 Adjunct at the New Orleans Museum of Art, “True Colors,” 2014, at the Ashé Cultural Arts Center, and “NOLA NOW: The Human Figure,” 2012 at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans.
About the Seller
5.0
Platinum Seller
Premium sellers with a 4.7+ rating and 24-hour response times
Established in 1998
1stDibs seller since 2015
171 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: <1 hour
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: New Orleans, LA
- Return Policy
Authenticity Guarantee
In the unlikely event there’s an issue with an item’s authenticity, contact us within 1 year for a full refund. DetailsMoney-Back Guarantee
If your item is not as described, is damaged in transit, or does not arrive, contact us within 7 days for a full refund. Details24-Hour Cancellation
You have a 24-hour grace period in which to reconsider your purchase, with no questions asked.Vetted Professional Sellers
Our world-class sellers must adhere to strict standards for service and quality, maintaining the integrity of our listings.Price-Match Guarantee
If you find that a seller listed the same item for a lower price elsewhere, we’ll match it.Trusted Global Delivery
Our best-in-class carrier network provides specialized shipping options worldwide, including custom delivery.More From This Seller
View AllSee Me Slopeside
By Ruth Owens
Located in New Orleans, LA
ARTIST 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
Materials
Casein, Paper
Court Ladies
By Ruth Owens
Located in New Orleans, LA
Framed 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
Materials
Paper, Casein
See Me, Countryside, study
By Ruth Owens
Located in New Orleans, LA
Framed Dimensions: 13h x 10.25w 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
Materials
Paper, Casein, Pencil
Sunday Sister
By Ruth Owens
Located in New Orleans, LA
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 for several years. Although it was prescribed by law, our mixed race...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Materials
Paper, Casein, Ink
Adieu, Gaugin, study
By Ruth Owens
Located in New Orleans, LA
Framed 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
Materials
Paper, Casein
"See Me, Countryside, study II" -- Painting on paper by Ruth Owens
By Ruth Owens
Located in New Orleans, LA
Framed 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
Materials
Paper, Casein, Pencil
You May Also Like
A Lion Mangled Me - A Man Eating Lion
Located in Miami, FL
Using 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
Materials
Board, Casein
$20,000 Sale Price
20% Off
Carpathian Ancestor
Located in Washington, DC
One 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
Materials
Plaster, Wood, Casein
$638 Sale Price
24% Off
Water Hunters ( Cowboys in the Old West )
By Stevan Dohanos
Located in Miami, FL
Meticulously 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
Materials
Casein
La Grande Parisienne. Contemporary Figurative Oil Painting
By Sax Berlin
Located in Brecon, Powys
When this beautiful piece was created Berlin had been staging a one man renaissance of the early 20th Century School of Paris. For 8 years in this wing of study he used the shapes of...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Marble
Portrait - Original Tempera on Paper - Mid-20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Portrait is an original modern painting in tempera on paper realized by an Anonymous artist of the mid-20th Century.
.
Monogrammed, illegible...
Category
Mid-20th Century Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Tempera
$260 Sale Price
25% Off
Many-Worlds Interpretation (H.C.H.P)
By Colin Hunt
Located in New York, NY
Looking 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
Materials
Egg Tempera, Panel
Recently Viewed
View AllMore Ways To Browse
Tool Rests
Mother Child Africa
William Manners
Antique Civil War Dress
Officer Portrait 18th Century
Portrait Habsburg
Titan 3
16th Century Italian Religious Painting
Charles Alice Smith
English Portrait Naval
Lady Dior Pearl
Mercedes Benz Vintage Cars
Officer 18th Century
Portrait Baronet
Stuart Henry
Tudor Oil Painting
Dean Antiques
Dior Pearl Lady Dior