Uncommon Threads

GERRY RUECKER
UN/Discard:RE/Form
ARTIST STATEMENT

I am a self-educated Regina artist of over 30 years, working in mixed media construction, both functional and nonfunctional. My current work is an exploration referencing ideas of a sense of place, personal and impersonal histories (both real and imagined), and permanence/impermanence. The work consists of the synthesis of cast-off, discarded items (such as old pieces of found wood and building materials, rusted metals etc) with highly contrasting ornate baroque-influenced picture frames, and other miscellaneous related materials.

Born and raised locally in the Prairies, I have for the majority of my life, felt a special affinity for and been drawn to age-worn and discarded materials, and the imagined histories of abandoned rural buildings. And living in a time of plastic overuse, ‘fast fashion’ and ‘here today, gone later today’ trends, I find it appealing that these time-worn, disposed of materials and items that have experienced whole other lives and usefulnesses, and are now imbued with a new and repurposed life having no relation to their original function. In blending these no longer wanted or needed items within an excessively elaborate style that has been for centuries the standard of ‘classy’, a completely new life develops and blossoms from the old.

Paradoxically, after a life-changing introduction to the magnificent and unparalleled eccentric work of Spanish Architect Antoni Gaudi, I am equally drawn to the excessive, elaborate ornamentation exemplified for example, by the Baroque period.

My working method is intuitive and spontaneous in nature, much like improvisation in music…..and the course of life itself. Each work is an ongoing exploratory progression, developing in a completely unplanned fashion, with no prior fixed idea of either how the piece will develop, or of the specific materials that will be included in its construction. ‘Accidents’, ‘mistakes’ and mid-project shifts in direction are an integral, vital aspect of my creative process (as they are in life), often furnishing me with a new technique or medium to be investigated, honed and unfolded into my work.

My primary creative influences are diverse, including first and foremost the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi, also significantly, Wabi Sabi, the Japanese philosophy of imperfection and impermanence, the American Sculptor Nick Cave, the Italian Design group Memphis, and Australian constructivist sculptor Robert Klippel.

I have exhibited frequently in Canada and Jamaica in solo and group shows, including the 2008 Jamaica Biennale, and my work can be found in numerous public and private collections, both nationally and abroad, including the City of Regina and the Saskatchewan Arts Board.