Ginny Ruffner There is Always Beauty - Habatat Michigan Exhibition January 2021

GINNY RUFFNER S AT U R D AY, J A N U A R Y 2 3 R D

Ginny Ruffner explorers life teetering somewhere between reality and fantasy which is depicted throughout her sculpture. She has an ability to create a dialogue through nature, the cosmos, history, and art. For decades, she has chosen glass as her canvas to express her thoughts. We are proud to present this body of work exploring a variety of ideas throughout her career as not only an artist but… a story teller.

A GIFT OF A LILY POND

THE ORIGIN MYTH OF THE GOURD Nature plays a significant role with this body of work. The Origin Myth of the Gourd was created in 2018 and pre-pandemic, However, throughout history when the fight against small pox and measles became prevalent, gourds were used superstitiously in the healing process. Gourds would be hung around children’s rooms with the thought that the sickness would leave the body and enter the gourd.

The hour glass symbolizes the importance of

She pays homage to nature with her sculpture

measurement during uncertain times. What if? Is

A Gift of a Lilly Pond where she frames imagery

a question Ginny Ruffner has asked throughout

separated by a pathway. A single body of water

her career as an artist who uses glass as a means

made into two. Vibrant foliage sporadically

for expression. What if a flower and a fish were

grows throughout the frame as nature once

able to cross pollinate?

again overcomes one’s ability to harness its beauty. The water lily is symbolic in Sangam literature for separation.

CELESTIAL PATTERN RECOGNITION The sculpture Celestial Pattern Recognition explores patterns, symbols, and shapes found throughout nature. These patterns may be found in different contexts and modeled mathematically.

The similarities are uncanny and may be found in different species, plants, and even stone as well as gas clouds throughout the universe.

BLUE MELODY OF A SPINY ARBOR Blue Melody of a Spiny Arbor explores a crossbreed of nature and art with imagery of a Freda Kahlo-like painted flower running rampant over a bright painted Kandinsky.

The earliest of artists communicated with each other through imagery whether it be nature of art or the art of nature. Ginny Ruffner has questioned the complexities of what is known and challenged the rules and guidelines of how to behave. Nature is less predictable than we are taught. Why does art have to be predictable?

Why can’t a Kandinsky grow flowers?

GRAFFITI THEN AND NOW

BOUQUET OF MUSES

Graffiti Then and Now depicts an image of

This beautifully balanced bouquet of inspiration

an ancient deer painted within a cave deep a

sits gracefully in an urn created by the artist.

forest. The 20,000-year-old Banksy rendering is

Each blossom’s carpels portray a significant

a souvenir left by cave dwellers. The augmented

person or idea by which the artist has been

reality of glass causes the rendering to jump out

affected. She pays homage to the source of her

the cave and come alive before your very eyes.

insight. Ginny has connected each stem to the

NEPTUNE’S BENTO BOX The artist has chosen to depict Neptune known in mythology as the god of the ocean and the creation of creatures submerged in water.

She has carefully placed each unusual lifeform organizing them in a Japanese motif. Setting them apart from one another in “bento box fashion” yet connecting them as all living things

urn they embody and as most bouquets come and go Bouquet of Muses suggests inspiration and brilliance may be immortal.

For over 40 years Ginny has challenged the way we look at ourselves through her artwork. Like an author, her narrative unfolds through exploration of her work and her mantra that continues to challenge us all in the form of a question, “What if?”

are connected in one way or another. The

However, the question should be, “What if,”

placement suggests that all creatures, on land

Ginny Ruffner did not explore these ideas?

and in water, may need one another to survive

Would they ever get explored?

no matter the cost.

- Corey Hampson

A gift of a Lily Pond, 2020

13’’ L x 13’’ W x 16’’ H – Lampworked glass and mixed mediaglass

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The Origin Myth of the Gourds, 2018

16.5“ L x 17” W x 13.5” H – Lampworked glass and mixed media

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Blue Melody of a Spiny Arbor, 2011

19’’L x 18’’W x 17’’H – Lampworked glass

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Graffiti-Then and Now, 2019

112’’L x 26’’W x 18’’H – Lampworked Glass and mixed media with Augmented Reality Component

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Celestial Pattern Recognition, 2020

14’’ L x 14’’ W x 5’’ H – Lampworked glass and mixed media

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Neptune’s Bento Box, 2020

12 L x 5 W x 9 H – Lampworked glass and mixed media

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Bouquet of Muses, 2020 12 L x 12 W x 17 H – Lampworked glass and mixed media

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THE RESCUING BEAUTY OF OPTIMISM

Now we have the wonderful never-before opportunity to see a different kind of beauty. The beauty of adaptability, perseverance. The beauty of enduring with the creativity to see things in a whole new way. The beauty of moving forward, not going ‘back’ to the way life used to be. The beauty of optimism. There will always be beauty, if you choose to see it.

But we always have that choice- embrace Now and start to shape ‘what is’ into ‘what WILL be’-or wallow and moan about what can’t be changed-no matter how loud the wailing.

What an amazing time in the history of humanity: We get to embrace a totally altered reality.

Life doesn’t move backward, it moves forward. This exhibition is a call to do move onward with a different appreciation of beauty.

– Ginny Ruffner 2020

F O R P R I C I N G C O N TA C T H A B ATAT G A L L E R I E S