A mountain of hills

Exhibition by Ruth Le Roux

Exhibition: March 6th – April 24th, 1-5pm on Saturdays

Local Language: 477 25th Street, Oakland CA 94612

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

A mountain (a collective noun for hills) is a place to escape for adventure, but also a place where one can find solace. Similarly, Le Roux views her artistic journey as beginning with expressive, bold painting and ending with meditative mark-making. The second aspect of her process could not take place without the first, and that tension transforms the first painting into something layered and altogether new.

“Colors and shapes always come to me on hikes. I spend a lot of time outdoors and as much time as I can in the mountains, which is where I feel the most relaxed and happy.” These landscapes are not only reproductions of abstract places where Le Roux would sometimes like to escape, but they also represent views, so to speak, for observers to jump into and imbue with their own, individual perspectives.

RESIDENCY WORK ON EXHIBIT

Up to this point, much of Le Roux’s work has taken the form of graphic, abstract collage. During quarantine, however, she felt that these painstakingly precise works became unfeasible. She sought a more expressive means of escapism, which led to this phase of landscapes. Much like a stroll through the wilderness, the artist takes a meandering approach to painting, often beginning without knowing where the work might end up, enjoying the process along the way, and using the repetition of mark-marking, color, and form to guide her works from start to finish. 

The white hashmarks of the printed acrylic overlays produced during her Local Language residency are a callback to the start of her artistic path, when she studied woodcuts and linocut printmaking in high school. “I don’t have the patience now to dive into that process of drawing, cutting, printing, then cutting again, so I was really excited when I discovered that drawing white lines and marks over an otherwise chaotic painting was the best of both worlds.” The resulting artworks are colorful and layered, physical in their dimensionality and graphic in their window-like viewpoints, harkening to worlds both real and mythical.   

ARTIST’S BIO

Ruth Le Roux is a South African artist currently living in Oakland. Her work draws primarily on the theme of nature, where she feels the most at home. Growing up in the mountainous region of Stellenbosch, South Africa, Le Roux would often hike alone as a child. Her work is additionally informed by her interests in graphic design and interior design, as well as her experiences abroad. She has lived in many different countries since childhood, including England, Scotland, Taiwan, and Argentina. Formally untrained, she is a newcomer to the art scene and started painting four years ago when pregnant with her first child. Her multimedia practice includes collage, drawing, and painting.

Local Language is an Art, Design, and Fabrication studio providing curated art collections for commercial properties across the globe. The Artist in Residence program offers space, time, and facilities for artists in a multitude of disciplines to explore creative pursuits and utilize technology to further their own art practice. We are a working art manufacturer. Made in the Garage District, Oakland California.

Open to the public Saturdays between 1-5pm, or by appointment.