Join us for the opening reception of our August exhibitions! Protect N’ Serve by FIGWÜRM in the Main Gallery and I need an adult by Christine Riutzel in the Snap Space Gallery.
Artist Statement | FIGWÜRM
My work tends to drift towards a meditation on self. Abstracted portraits dominate as the main subject in most compositions, however these "subjects" are loosely bound by interconnected structures, within and throughout; allowing for a composite whole and individual selves to coalesce.
In my view, reality is constructed from independent, conscious, perceptions of a shared experience. the bedrock of which lies an absolute truth, never fully revealed.
Instead our limitations (ie: observation, senses) construct an abstract guiding form of self and selves to perceive. to help navigate meaningfully. my work struggles with these questions of form, truth, and purpose; I wish for each piece to encapsulate the divine, creative process of perception and experience. to extend agency through the viewer, just as the individual claims agency of their own experience through conscious choice & (conjoined) observation.
My work is intrinsically tied to the black experience, and the exploration of black agency. With this exhibit I wish to demonstrate the depth of our shared experience and highlight the breadth of power (force) held between collective individuals, as they interpret, define, & create (or uncover) the basis of a singular truth. Which I believe is done every day.
Artist Statement | Christine Riutzel
When I was a child, never did I think I could be an artist. As a woman raised in an alternative
community (think Duggars: 19 Kids and Counting) we never discussed my future outside of being a wife and mother. I used to stare at works of Warhol, Rothko, Johns, Basquiat in the encyclopedias, knowing I could never achieve making works like the greats without the
disapproval of the patriarchy. As this was not “good” art. Even in my daydreams I felt trapped, yearning for some kind of empowerment.
In 2021 I hit a roadblock: a “spiritual crisis.” I had proven to myself that I could make a living
doing art but there had to be something more. Resisting to create meaning in my work out of fear of judgment and rejection from my community. It had never occurred to me that I could use my art as therapy. It changed the way I think about art but also my mental health.
How do I learn how to spiritually feed myself now that the Evangelical Fundamentalist church has failed me? How do I navigate life when my religious parent would rather disown me than love me regardless of my beliefs? If God is supposed to love us unconditionally why has that not been my experience? Am I ever going to fill the void my father left?
Some of these works illustrate dreams and moments I often had during my time of conflict between myself and my legalistic abusive father. My brain would disassociate, creating floating spaces, colorful and liminal. Using imagery of nostalgia and Biblical symbolism to express experiences of spiritual abuse and my journey of healing from my religious trauma and finding identity.