If you haven't seen "Inherited and Borrowed Types", Ruby Sky Stiler's excellent solo show currently on view at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, get your self there as soon as you can this week. The show runs till February 27th, and it's totally excellent. The gallery is at 21 Orchard St between Canal and Hester. Ruby is a great artist and a hilarious person. I got the opportunity ask her some questions about the current work in the show, and she was kind enough to answer them. For more info and to see more images go to www.nicellebeauchene.com Enjoy!
Ruby, my grandmother's name was Ruby, it's one of my favorite names. Do you know how you came to be a Ruby?
Thank you! I love my name, is that conceited? It’s a really good name. My Mom had a strong, intuitive feeling I would be a boy and was partial to the name “Rueben”. I’m a girl, so she tweaked it. My dad added “Sky”, and knowing him, it’s probably a long, funny story–I vaguely remember him telling me he received a sign from the “sky” on the day of a Red Sox game, but the details elude me.
Could you explain the inspiration for the title of your show, "Inherited and Borrowed Types"? I think thats such a great one.
Inherited and Borrowed Types is a chapter title excerpted from A Handbook of Greek Sculpture, a dusty old book I found at a yardsale a few years ago. The book talks about the influences on the idealized and highest forms of Greek art (which can, in most cases be traced back to an origin which is not Greek) the term “type” in this context refers to any figurative Greek form.
Could you give a little background info? Where are you from and what lead up to you coming to New York?
I spent a lot of time between places as a kid. I felt both connected and disconnected to the places that my parents lived, (Mom in New Mexico, Dad in Maine). New York is the first place I’ve really felt at “home”. I descended on the city after RISD, and have been basically lurking around for the last ten years, with a grad school interlude at Yale. All my favorite homies and food are here, all the art and inspiration, too. And currently, all the snowdrifts filled with poo and trash.
What materials exactly are these new sculptures made of? They truly have the feeling and presence of stone carved monuments- and I really thought that’s what they were when I first saw them. At the same time that they feel very solid on the ground and present, there is an atmosphericness to them, like somehow they are all around you and not just in front of you. Do you see that?
I love that description. These sculptures are made of foam, acrylic resin and pigment. The materials mimic stone or marble, so they do conjure the impact of those more elevated materials. I think the atmosphere is created because the works reference canonized ancient forms, and there is a distinct way we relate to those special types of objects. I’ve also arranged the works to relate to each other, almost “socially” in this installation, so the space between the figures is active.
I love the unexpectedness of the sculpture- they feel very familiar and comforting, but at the same time I'm always sure I've never seen anything like it when I'm looking. Could you sort of guide us through your process of making one of these new sculptures? What do you do from conceptualization to completion?
It’s an intuitive process. I make a bunch of things and then I jam them together until they create a compelling figurative form. It’s an activity akin to repairing something that was broken. I use a wide range of sources in making the parts: contemporary, ancient and imagined.
I also feel like these works have a lot to do with drawing. Do you consider drawing to be an important part of your practice? Some of this work has a real portrait quality about it, and the modeling of the forms feels very "drawing-esque" to me, i.e., the process of adding and subtracting marks.
I love the drawing part of it. Making marks, or forms with my hands is an important part of my work. I feel like I do my best thinking in my studio, when I’m actually making physical changes to an object. That’s a space where evolution can occur–things happen that go beyond my cognitive expectations. With my most recent sculptures, the two-dimensional quality mimics low relief, a technique typically seen in architectural facades, as opposed to freestanding figurative sculpture. The single sided pictorial slabs also provide an alternative, abstract view that speaks more to the language of 20th century sculpture than ancient art. The minimal shapes that form their “backs” are equally as meaningful as the figuration.
What are some images, time periods, objects, art movements, etc that inspired or fed into this work?
Recently, I’ve been really into looking at Picasso’s concrete sculptures–they are bonkers! The rendering quality in my recent work is looking to Matisse, as well, particularly his portraits (like “Madame Matisse”) in which subjects eyes are black and zombie-like. I like to pull patterns from this book of textiles from the Wiener Werkstätte (a Viennese production community of visual artists around the 1920’s). I pull down my fashion illustration reference books fairly often, too. I’m super inspired by Louise Nevelson, and her monochromatic assemblages.
What would you like to get across with these? What do you wish the viewer to walk away from them with?
That’s a tough one. I’m attracted to objects and artworks that engage the viewer in interpretation. Or are incomplete, imperfect or asymmetrical, and rely on the viewers mental and emotional participation to complete…
Are the collages a way for you to "relax" (even though they are super complex), or do you give them the same consideration as the sculpture?
Yes! They totally are. I’ve never made a system that is foolproof in the way that the collages are. Usually, when I finish one, I’m like “ not what I expected…and, I like it!” My sculptures are hell to make.
How long does it take you to make one of those collages? What is the process?
About 8 hours. And I’m just weaving two pages together. It’s very carpel-tunnelly, but it’s a type of repetitive activity that I really enjoy.
Whats a typical day in the studio like for you? Where is it? Who are your neighbors? Do you bring your lunch or buy it? Do you get there early or in the afternoon? Do you prefer working in the day or night? Have you ever been stoned at the studio?
My studio is in Gowanus. I usually get there at 10:30 and start with coffee. I switch between NPR and shuffling Talia’s ipod (artist Talia Chetrit, is a good friend right next door), and Hot 97. A lot of my friends also have studios in the building: Talia Chetrit, Jill Galerneau, Sarah Crowner, Susan Bricker, Marissa Tesauro…I see them daily. We have tea, and brainstorm about our vermin problems, or synchronize our after dark walks to the train because our studio is on kind of a “murder-y” dead end. I work during the day there until 6-7. Lunch is a problem, I forage in friends studios pretty often. I don’t get stoned any more in or out of the studio. I still want to, but every time I do, I hallucinate that I wet my pants and it’s really distracting.
What are some artists or art movements that you would say have seriously influenced you? That you carry with you while you are working/ coming up with ideas for new pieces?
Always changing. But I mentioned a few back there.
Who are some artists working today that you love or that are inspiring to you?
I think the conversations I have with people in my life, about my work or theirs, are most constructive or inspiring to me. Though usually I love their work too. I can’t possibly name them all. My boyfriend Daniel Gordon, and his work, provides a daily touchstone. I implicitly trust him…when we’re not annoyed over basic roommate stuff.
Can you recall the first sculpture you ever saw that made you say, "I'm going to do that one day"?
Jeff Koons “Puppy”.
How did it come about that you ended up doing your show at Nicelle Beauchene and a project at Derek Eller simultaneously?
Originally, I planned to show only the collages here in NY at Derek Eller’s project space (the full body of work was commissioned/exhibited at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Fall 2010)-. Derek and Abby are friends, and have a lovely project space. My show at Nicelle’s was scheduled for this coming fall 2011. When Nicelle and I decided to show the full body of work at her space–I took the opportunity to show new and corresponding work at Derek Eller. I need to punch up the drama of that story.
Any last words? Any shout outs?
Shout out to Wu-tang! Shout out to NYC Ballet! Shout out to Ryan Schneider!
THANK YOU SO MUCH, YOUR SHOW IS INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL!
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