Ruth is an abstract painter dealing with colour as a means of expression, as a structural device and for its symbolic qualities.
Her work is inspired by American artist James Turrell and Mexican architect Luis Barragan, who use pure colour in exterior and interior settings to provide ‘rooms’ or ‘environments’ for contemplation, celebration etc.
In recent work, she used the symbolism of colour to connect with emotions in a direct, expressive way.
As a creative practitioner over the last 10 years, this interest has informed school and community projects, and art commissions (including murals, sculpture installations and colour workshops) to engage the viewer and trigger feelings and moods using the purity and simplicity of colour.
Ruth is an active member of artists co-operative Northlight Studios, and regularly exhibits her work.
In 2003, she was awarded an Arts Council Grant for researching and developing new work.
Ruth has been working with Wakefield City High School on the Building Bridges 2 Exhibition.
Taking the internal layout of the new gallery as a starting point, Ruth worked with the pupils to create feelings through the use of colour to link emotions with the different nature of each space or collection within the gallery.
They produced a series of designs using symbolic colour and simple abstract shapes to reflect the nature of the space and the visitors' experience.
Symbolic properties of colour such as blue were used to suggest contemplation and calm environments; red to suggest activity, energy vitality and to provide stimulating spaces and yellows/orange to create uplifting spaces.
At the same time, pupils used colour to suggest ways of looking and moving around the gallery space to provide energetic paths and routeways (red/orange) or slower and more considered ones(blue/purple/ green).
The final piece emerged from a distillation of these ideas and takes the form of multi-layered coloured perspex panels.
Commenting on the work, Ruth said, "I hope we have created a sculpture that provides an uplifting, invigorating yet contemplative response to the space that will tap into the viewer's own experience of the gallery space and its collections."
