Ruth Chambers

Ruth Chambers
Born 1960
Toronto
Nationality Canadian
Education Ontario College of Art Diploma Honours - Toronto 1983, University of Regina MFA 1994
Known for Ceramics, Installation, Contemporary Craft Theory
Notable work

FIRE+EARTH: Contemporary Canadian Ceramics

Pneuma

Ruth Chambers (born 1960 in Toronto, Ontario[1]) is an installation artist based in Regina, Saskatchewan. She works with a wide range of media, and her art has incorporated everything from unfired clay, ceramics and found objects to the latest in audio-visual media.

In 1983, she graduated from the Ontario College of Art as an Associate of the Ontario College of Art. From 1983–1984 she worked in the Ceramics Department of the Sun Valley Centre for the Arts and Humanities in Sun Valley, Idaho.[1] She obtained her M.F.A. from the University of Regina in 1994.[2]

Career

Chambers' work has also explored a vast array of thematic elements. Some of her sculptures have depicted inner elements of the human body, depicted in such a way that they force questions about the relationship between the physical and the metaphysical.[3] Other works by Chambers combine elements of classical design (such as Tuscan order columns) with fragile natural imagery, such as fluttering oak leaves.

In an article written in 2006, Chambers says the following about ceramics and installation: "Ceramics is a medium traditionally associated with craft production and defined by its material qualities rather than its expressed content. Installation on the other hand, usually takes the form of a temporary environment specific in both look and meaning to its location, it employs a range of media, and the materials are often non-traditional and secondary in importance to the idea expressed."[4]

Her more recent installation art explores both natural and architectural themes. Recent pieces incorporate unfired clay objects placed in darkened space; the pieces are then activated by dramatic lighting and visual projections.[1] According to Chambers, her contrasting style is intended to disorient the viewer, as "these installations are intended to intervene into compemporary architecture with the intent of inserting a different kind of aesthetic into spaces that are usually unornamented and designed to be quite neutral."[5]

She has exhibited throughout both Canada and the United States. She is a founding member of Petri’s Quadrille, a Regina-based artists’ collective (1997 - 2006). She has exhibited at institutions such as the Burlington Art Centre, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, and the Mackenzie Art Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan.[5] She has also exhibited at the Gallery 1.1.1 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.[6]

In 2007 she co-authored a book with Amy Gogarty and Mireille Perron titled Utopic Impulses: Contemporary Ceramics Practice (published by Ronsdale Press), which includes ten essays that explore ceramics as a socially responsible practice.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ruth Chambers Biography". www.virtualmuseum.ca. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  2. ↑ "Ruth Chambers | Media, Art, and Performance, University of Regina". www.uregina.ca. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  3. ↑ http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/~fire20/Artists/Chambers/ChambersStmtEn.html. Retrieved January 14, 2008. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ Chambers, Ruth (2006). "Ceramic Installation: Towards a Definition". Ceramics: Art and Perception. September 2006: 81–87 – via EBSCO host.
  5. 1 2 Alfoldy, Sandra (2012). The allied arts : architecture and craft in postwar Canada. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 126. ISBN 9780773539600.
  6. ↑ "Chambers, Ruth. Gallery 1.1.1., Winnipeg". Border Crossings. 15 (1): 52–54. 1996 – via ProQuest.
  7. ↑ "Utopic Impulses: Contemporary Ceramics Practice". Ronsdale Press. Retrieved 2016-03-13.

2007: Utopic Impulses: Contemporary Ceramics Practice (ed. with Amy Gogarty and Mireille Perron) ISBN 9781553800521 OCLC 124034534

Sandra Alfoldy. Allied Arts: Architecture and Craft in Postwar Canada. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, Mar 28, 2012. pg. 126-7.

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