Cynthia Ruse – The In-Between

Cynthia Ruse’s The In-Between is a series of paintings that reflect the parallel and layered elements of life, where light and darkness are blurred and the narrative of a painting becomes experience in itself.

I FIRST CREATED THESE images to be able to hold feelings of protest and resilience in my hand. To me, they’re rehearsals for action, multiple practices in ways of standing strong.

Spaces are ongoing, and I find that if the surrounding air is quiet, the edges between light and darkness are even blurrier.

Describing an experience of being alive in this moment is like conveying the feeling of touching water, using only words.

It is slippery, but worth it. When a description is not substituted for the experience itself, it becomes one. My aim is to create the fragments of worlds that can be entered.

I’ve been influenced by stop motion in animation and film, and also Medieval and Dutch multi-paneled altarpieces.

My goal is to join disparate elements in a subjective construction that dissolves upon “waking”.

I believe that art can change the world. Art is an invitation to participate in the parallel and layered aspects of life.

Art is an open space, a story, a question, and a call to action. It exists both alongside and outside the day to day. It is what lies between words, or the words themselves.

For me personally, art is the thread that ties it all together. Loose ends are my best guides, and are always invited to remain.

Cynthia Ruse is a left-handed installation artist and animal lover in Brooklyn, New York. She is used to seeing the world backwards, and turning things to different orientations to see their best viewpoint, a skill she uses in both art and life. On instagram: cynrart Website: cynthiaruseart.com