ANNA WETZEL ARTZ

Ruby Henrickson (she/her) is a visual artist from a small town on the coast of Lake Michigan, now living and working in Seattle, WA.  She earned her MFA in painting and drawing in 2023 at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA, and her BFA in painting in 2021 at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI.  She received the 2020 Gordon Art Fellowship at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute for Environmental Studies and Best in a Discipline award in painting while attending GVSU.

GO SLOW: Ruby, 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨.

RUBY: I am an artist who works in distinct series, and I find that gives me more room to explore and play with new ideas or materials.  It also is very healthy for my creative self.  Each day in the studio is a small devotion: my art practice is the closest thing to a spiritual practice I have.  Through it I orient myself in the world, as it is a form of deep and focused contemplation.  The subject matter referenced is often of the natural world—there are such rich lessons to be had by laying an ear to the dirt, or by visiting with a lake.  I like to attempt to channel that knowledge.

Ruby Henrickson, Six, 2023, acrylic, ink, oil stick, and plaster on cardboard, approx. 5 x 5 inches

How does the phrase “Go Slow” relate to your work, and to your life in general?

I have never been a believer in the “hustle.”  It measures worth by progress or production, which I believe is destructive for the human body and mind, and the collective.  “Go Slow” resonates for me in its radical softness.  It calls for respite.  It calls for patience.

Who or what is making your artist’s brain buzz with inspiration right now?

Mostly, the answer is my garden.  I lose track of time and think simply.  But as the days get shorter and colder, I turn more inward and my book pile stacks up.  I am currently reading A Breath of Life by Clarice Lispector, and anything from Thich Nhat Hanh or bell hooks.  I’ve been looking a lot at the work of Maria Helena Vieira da Silva.

Ruby Henrickson, One, 2023, plaster, ink, and oil pastel on cardboard, approx. 10 x 8 inches

What other projects or ideas are you looking forward to at the moment?

A new series of paintings on canvas about the processes of plants. Imagery of seeds, sprouts, roots, and flowers keep coming up. Thinking a lot about how seeds grow in the darkness of soil–and the utter magic that the seed contains!

Ruby Henrickson, The rocks move (rock time), 2022, acrylic on canvas, found wood and stone, approx. 8 x 10 inches 

Thank you for sharing a glimpse into your studio process, Ruby!  What are the best ways for us to follow your work?

I have an upcoming 2-person exhibition at Studio Break Gallery in Chicago in April 2024. You can see updates on that at my IG page.  You can purchase my work by contacting me at henricksonruby@gmail.com.  You can visit my website to see work that may be available: https://www.rubyhenrickson.com/

Ruby Henrickson, Seven, 2023, wasp nest, acrylic, oil stick, dirt, and plaster on cardboard, approx. 4 x 6 inches

𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙝𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙚 “𝙂𝙤 𝙎𝙡𝙤𝙬” 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡?

This feels like such a big and important question, particularly for the time we’re living in where there’s such a pervasive expectation of immediacy. This feeling of immediacy sometimes creeps into my process when it comes to materials. Painting with acrylics has made me feel entitled to things drying fast. But the way I make sculptures, using ceramic and pumice medium, requires that I embrace the slowness of drying time. This is an interesting tension because I’m confronted by the materials themselves. They ask for what they need—time, patience, intention. This confrontation is sometimes a reminder to embrace those things in the rest of my life!

In addition to the issue of drying time, the process of finding wood pieces to use in the sculptures I’m currently making requires that I slow down enough to pay attention to my surroundings. Often I’ll find a piece while on a walk with my dog and it’s so easy to get lost in thought while on a walk, to let the stresses of life and ideas of what should come next take over. But if I slow down and quiet my brain, that allows me the mental space to look around me. If I’m able to do that I find pieces to incorporate into my sculptures everywhere I look. Nature wants to be noticed and when I do, there’s always a payoff.

𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩’𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙪𝙯𝙯 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬?

I recently fell into a deep Ann Hamilton rabbit hole. Learning about her process and digging into her catalog has been feeding me tremendously. More than just being beautiful work it’s given me ideas and permission to explore sculpture on a whole other level – using the body and space to create installations that push me beyond the sculptures I’m doing now. That might be really ambiguous but I think what I’m saying is that she’s been a tremendous inspiration for the work I’ve been putting together.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩?

I’ve got a few installations brewing that are sort of site activations related to the scholarly work I used to do in my previous life as a theology and philosophy professor. It feels really exciting to think of ways to marry my philosophical work around relationality and the sculptural work I’ve been doing. Like I said, Ann Hamilton has been a big part of that. So has the work of Joseph Beuys. I’m really looking forward to fleshing out some of these ideas. It feels like a homecoming of sorts.

W𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠?

Instagram is the best way to see what I’m working on. Occasionally I’ll put out a newsletter which folks can sign up for on my website but I’m most active on Instagram. It feels easiest to focus my attention to one space and Instagram, for better or worse, seems like the space where I’m able to communicate more directly with folks about the things I’m doing.

𝙅𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙚𝙧, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙤 𝙎𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩 𝘾𝙡𝙪𝙗 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙝!