Masha Ryskin

Aug 31

Providence, RI

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How would you describe your work?

My work moves between painting, printmaking, drawing, and installation. I am interested in a sense of place and belonging, which is probably not uncommon for an immigrant artist. I take bits and pieces of my surroundings and assemble them into imaginary environments. While still working from observation, the resulting images are abstract. I turn my back on prescribed narrative and construct my pieces in a non-linear fashion. I really want to give the viewer the experience of getting lost in the image and meandering through the space. In addition to my individual practice, I regularly collaborate with French Canadian artist Serge Marchetta.

What inspires you?

There are so many things. I am interested in overlooked moments of my immediate surroundings and the way these moments form a visual space. Walking, meandering and looking around. The way the fragments of a landscape layer and shift as you walk through it or as the wind and light change. Bits of memories that are fleeting and come and go. Music and sound are also really important. Music - I play in a Javanese music ensemble and the fragmentary and layered quality of this music is a big influence in my process.

Can you speak about your process?

I work in layers and on multiple pieces at a time. There may be a number of paintings, a drawing, and some prints being worked on at the same time. I rarely make detailed sketches, rather, a vague idea forms and the rest gets worked out through the process. This is not very efficient but I find that if I work out everything through sketching, then the spark and mystery of discovery is gone and the work is stagnant. This is completely opposite from my collaborator's process, he has to work everything out in advance. It makes for some interesting discussions sometimes. Because of this fluidity of process, I really have to work and rework a number of pieces at the same time. I often paint over areas of the pieces with white and work on top of them to create veils and layers.

How did you become interested in art?

I think I was always drawing. I started going to museum classes for kids from an early age in Moscow. I was fortunate to be exposed to great art works while very young. In the Soviet Union, people had to decide on their direction very early, so I went to art school before college. It was a very rigid education, beginning with still lives and plaster casts and gradually moving on to figure, along with genre drawings and paintings responding to very specific political themes. It took me a long time to leave this rote way of working and figure out what I actually wanted to do but now I really appreciate the observational skills this education gave me. I use elements of it still, even though most people won't ever notice. I don't remember wanting to do anything else, really. When things got hard later on, I was trying to figure out if there was anything else I might have liked to do, and couldn't think of anything. Of course, I am interested in lots of things - literature, music, mathematics, languages but those have always been secondary.

Do you have any favorite artists, movies, books, or quotes?

Too many artists that influenced me to really list but I'll mention a few, Marc Chagall, Kasimir Malevich, Romaire Bearden, Japanese Boro textiles, Indonesian shadow puppetry. I learn a lot from conversations with my mentor Randy Williams, collaborator Serge Marchetta and former collaborator and friend Yuko Kimura.

Authors: Siri Hustvedt, Amy Tan, Haruki Murakami, Jorge Luis Borges, Nikolai Gogol, Daniil Kharms, among others

What advice do you have for younger artists?

Who are we really to give advice... but what helped me was being very stubborn in knowing the direction I wanted to go. Reading and having interests that are broader than my work. Commitment to the art making process, despite the fact that it always requires a measure of sacrifice.

Any more thoughts about art, creativity, or anything else you would like to share?

It's a wonderful and transformative thing. There is a reason I couldn't think of anything else I would rather do, it makes one feel alive.