KATHY RUTTENBERG, Lost in Woods, 2022

KATHY RUTTENBERG, Lost in Woods, 2022
Edition of 10 + 1 AP
Numbered
Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity
Hand knotted
Silk, Lyocell, Nettle
High / Low Cut

Kathy Ruttenberg (b. 1957) emerged from the experimental art scene of New York City in the early 1980s, where a renewed interest in figuration developed in contrast to the conceptual and minimalist tendencies that had defined much of the previous decade. Her work has since developed across multiple media, including painting, sculpture, animation, photography, and artists’ books, forming a practice centered on storytelling through image and form.

Ruttenberg is particularly known for her ceramic sculptures—densely composed, narrative environments populated by hybrid figures, animals, and symbolic elements. These sculptural scenes often unfold like small mythologies, where human and animal forms merge with landscape and memory. Her work frequently draws on themes of transformation, ecology, and the fragile relationship between humans and the natural world.

Lost in Woods (2022) translates this narrative sensibility into textile form. The composition reflects Ruttenberg’s distinctive visual universe, where organic shapes, layered forms, and shifting silhouettes evoke the experience of moving through a forested landscape. Rather than presenting a literal scene, the design suggests a space where figures, vegetation, and atmosphere dissolve into one another, allowing the viewer to navigate the image through texture, color, and movement.

The rug is hand knotted using silk, lyocell, and nettle, materials chosen for their varied surface qualities and subtle shifts in sheen. Variations in pile height create areas of relief and depth, echoing the layered complexity often present in Ruttenberg’s sculptural works. The interplay between high and low cut sections allows certain elements to emerge while others recede, reinforcing the sense of a landscape that reveals itself gradually.

Ruttenberg’s ceramic works have been exhibited widely at institutions and galleries including Stefan Stux Gallery, Sladmore Contemporary, Dubuque Museum of Art, and Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. Her work has also been featured in major international exhibitions such as the International Ceramic Biennial, the World Ceramic Biennale Korea, and the Faenza Prize International Competition of Contemporary Ceramic Art.

“Ruttenberg’s art calls to mind the works of other brilliant eccentric misfits, including Eugene von Bruenchenhein, Joseph Cornell, Niki de Saint Phalle, and Alison Saar. She shares with these artists a seraphic dedication to a personal, idiosyncratic, and deeply authentic impulse, making objects tuned to a subconscious voice that begs, cajoles, and even threatens for outward expression.”
— Artforum