Four Rooms: Ruth Geldard

‘What does it mean for an artist to return to past works? How do they inform the making process as it continues? These are the questions behind Ruth Geldard’s decision to stage an exhibition of works past and present, in a variety of media that marks a point of reflection in her life as maker. The desire to make is the golden thread of this diverse presentation of works, which showcases her acute ability to observe everyday moments and their nuances in myriad ways and materials.

From still lifes to minimal sculpture, intense self-portraits and drawing as reportage, Geldard offers rich routes into and out of the experience of people, places, and ephemera. Her two-dimensional works are based in direct life observation, but what they reveal through assured linearity, generous brushstrokes, and an extraordinary colour palette, bring us into contact with the hidden vagaries of moments observed. We can imagine so much more of the characters, objects, and contexts she describes as a result of their arrival through her handling.

While Geldard’s sculpture are a different proposition as 3-D objects to negotiate, they are cut from the same observational cloth, if distilled into new, minimal visual languages. Think of it like the shift from prose to poetry. It’s not all laid out for us here, we have to feel our way, trust in our gut responses to material processes and details to inter the narrative.

There’s no one thing these works are each trying to tell us, but collectively they convey a sense of time well-travelled. And of the pain points, pleasure and pure magic that comes as a result of artistic compulsion.’

Apple & Hat Arts and humanities website – appleandhat.com

Instagram: @RuthRandom2

Website: www.ruthgeldard.com

Blog: ruthgeldard.wordpress.com