Ruby Palmer: Solo exhibition

The wood constructions began as models for floor sculptures that I wanted to make on a larger scale.  I hung them on the wall to make room on my studio table, and realized their relationship to painting.  I liked the gesture of putting the floor on the wall. The original intention of creating a surreal minimalism that reflected dreams of the discovery of hidden spaces made way for a much more playful, whimsical dialogue with formal issues in painting as well as the expression of layered, organic, compressed architectural space. I'm interested in the constructions being both objects, like sculpture, and images, like paintings, at once.

I began making the paper cut outs while experimenting with photographing light and shadow as a way to loosen up my studio practice. Originally I used the cut outs as props in creating shadows for this ongoing series I call "Light Studies". The cut outs have become more complex as I began to paint them and consider them on their own.  Now I see them as models for larger wall pieces.

 
The large paper/plaster wrap/muslin piece, "Wall Dance", was directly inspired by the smaller cut paper pieces.  Once I settled on a no-particular-pattern theme, with an assortment of colored bands and geometries, it took on a life of its own: an improvisational composition with a joyful feeling. I've always liked the scraps of paper or fabric left over after cutting shapes or patterns out of them--this piece has some of those qualities on a large scale.

I find the elements of surprise, discovery, and humor are what spurs me on to create more work in this vein. I'm especially interested in work that stems from my other work, then circles back through the theme again, perhaps in a different material, and what the results of this process are.