Masha Ryskin

Remnants

Wrapped

Coffeescape II

Journey (detail)

The other day Rachael introduced me to the work of several artists, including Masha Ryskin. Ryskin stood out the most to me, and I'm sure anyone who's seen my work lately will know exactly why.


Ryskin is a mixed media artist, incorporating materials such as coffee and tea into her paintings and her drawings. A lot of her work consists of larger scale pieces that cover full walls, often traveling throughout the gallery and around corners (such as in Journey).

Her work is built off of several specific themes including memory, tracings (and stains) that we leave behind, the passage of time, ect. She also focuses of the need to find a sense of belonging, something that stems from her need to find her place after moving from Russia to the United States (she currently lives in Rochester!).

Overall, I'm pretty much crazy about her work. I love the way she uses her materials. By mixing them with more traditional materials as well as the elements of collage Ryskin creates beautiful and interesting pieces. Its not too crowded, and its not too simple. I feel as though her work is complete. Where as I consistently feel like my own is "missing something", hers uses the unique materials in a consistent manner.

I feel as though one of the many reasons why her work is successful is because of how personal it is. I believe that art should be personal, that it should stem from somewhere internal. I feel that this is important to giving one's work depth, and that it does not make it any less objective. If anything, the more personal a piece is, the more other people will probably be able to relate to this. I know that I strive for this in my work. I believe that Ryskin manages to accomplish this through making pieces that are personal, as well as beautiful and innovative.


All work belongs to Masha Ryskin

Other source: http://begoartproject.com/ryskin.html#images/ryskin/01remnants.jpg