RUBY EWEN
PAINTINGS FROM ANOTHER PLANET
Artist Statement
"In 2005,after having painted in the landscape for decades, I felt that I did not want my painting to be confined by the parameters of the representational. After this determination, I painted a lot of abstracts but they still pertained to the landscape. The surface of the pieces were covered with paint.
They were not
'what I meant'. I did not want an abstraction of something. I wanted to paint freely on the canvas, engaged with the energy of painting. I did not want to reference subject matter.
As I discarded canvases in a process of
'no, not this', I started putting simple brushstrokes on the white ground. This seemed to be more to the point.
I worked hard, learning how to drop references to the image until I broke free and ultimately came up with the
TOY BOX
series wherein my paint box becomes my toy box and I am able to step up to the easel in an act of play: involved with joy, challenge and the creative spirit."