Citing clay as his “monument material,” Ruby salvages failed or broken ceramic attempts to later reveal in his Basin Theology series. The artist conceptualized the circulation of images, materials and all by-product into an ethos for his wide-ranging production in multiple media. Images of Amish quilts, an example of such re-use, appeared in the artist’s earliest collage and photographic works, alongside images of ancient ceramics, which may have been entombed and disinterred.
Growing up in proximity to Pennsylvania’s Amish community, Sterling Ruby observed the potential for self-sufficiency through humility and the discipline of putting away resources for later use. It’s been observed that these works illicit archeological fantasies in the viewer, perhaps because we’ve been pre-conditioned to seek enlightenment from even the smallest ceramic shards.īoth artists have engaged excavation as a muse, a metaphor and as a vital physical component of their studio production of the works on view here. They appear misshapen, eroded, melted, sometimes fused and usually empty. Every object in these rooms is composed of earthen matter, shaped into familiar forms basins, baskets, mortars, plates, vessels, bowls, cups and clubs, small animals, birds, shells, flowers and hearts. The exhibition finds parallels between two studio practices developed an ocean apart Ruby in Los Angeles, California, United States and Yasunaga in Iga, Mie Prefecture, Japan. Nonaka-Hill is pleased to present Sterling Ruby and Masaomi Yasunaga, bringing together two of the most innovative makers in ceramics today.
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Nonaka-Hill, Los Angeles Artists: Sterling Ruby and Masaomi Yasunaga
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