CROSS MEDIA ARTIST Ruth Stanton Mcleod

Ruth was born in South Canterbury and moved to North Canterbury in 2001. Her formal education was in Otago. She trained in Horticulture and Gardening completing an Apprenticeship at the Botanic Gardens in Dunedin. Ruth then went on to study Ceramics at Otago Polytechnic and after gaining her Certificate in Ceramics worked as a potter until she had the opportunity to go back to studying for her BFA majoring in printmaking. Recently Ruth took another opportunity and upskilled her ceramics to complete a Dip in Ceramic Arts.

Ruth is passionate about working in both clay and print and moves between the two disciplines comfortably. Textiles and other materials can also play a part in her multi-disciplinary approach to her work where for example threads may be used to provide links within the work in the literal sense but also in a metaphorical sense.

Her work imbues a sense of the natural earth and its components but at times her imagery twists and dislocates normal objects to become something of her own making allowing the imagery to create a response which is both exciting and unexpected.

This approach provides a vast range of subject material from which to reinvent normality and let her acute imagination run free to create a sense of curiosity in the viewer.

At times the work can be whimsically generated by taking every day simple objects and turning them into something extraordinary. These objects whether created in clay or print then become more interesting, more valuable in a sense to their natural presence or purpose.

Ruth continues to explore and learn from her experimentation with different materials and using them in inventive ways to create her own form of art.