Some artists get inspired by science. But not all of them actually get to work alongside scientists. Rebecca Rutstein, whose passion for science has fueled her colorful abstract works for many years, has more recently been able to work “elbow to elbow” with scientists as artist in residence on their projects, and the immersion in the scientific world has been transformational, with experiences that she says gave her a purpose she didn’t have before.
Rutstein’s exhibit “All the Stars in the Sea,” at Bridgette Mayer Gallery through Oct. 19, 2024, reflects her experience on a recent oceanographic expedition – her eighth – which included a trip in a submersible to the ocean floor with the scientists, a plunge of more than a mile down that lasts about 9 hours, with the descent taking about 2 hours, to study the sea’s floor, gather samples and experience the awe of life at the bottom.
The paintings in the exhibition tell the story of Rutstein’s trip on the R/V Atlantis. The expedition went to the Gulf of California off the coast of Mexico and was there for 30 days. One series of small paintings, titled “30 Days: Chronicling a Voyage at Sea” is a grid of 30 works that captures the day by day flow of the month-long expedition. The paintings were made on the ship and they continue Rutstein’s abstract motifs of dense overlapping networks that make up the fabric of life including life under the sea. There is one day represented that is a painting apart. Monochrome instead of her usual palette of blues, pinks and other bright colors, the painting is also realist instead of abstract. In grays and blacks, the piece captures the smoky plumes of volcano-hot water and minerals erupting from a hydrothermal vent in the ocean floor. An experience most of us will never have, captured and shared.
Another piece, an installation titled “Flow,” captures the bioluminescence that lights up the darkness at the ocean’s depths. Rutstein experienced this bioluminescence in the submersible, and to share the experience she’s made a simple but magical piece with round metallic discs suspended from the ceiling at various heights in the gallery’s small vault space. Brightly lit, with shadows dotting the walls, the piece dances and undulates as the discs move with the air circulating in the space.
[Note of Correction from the artist: Regarding “Flow:” It’s about bioluminescence but it’s also about the flow of iron dispersing from vents on the ocean floor and dissipating thousands of miles all the way to surface waters around the globe, providing nutrients for microorganisms who in turn produce the air we humans need to breathe. In essence, we are inexorably connected to the bottom of the ocean through this cycle…]
Rutstein, whose high energy and passion come across in person as she tells her story, is on a mission to help others experience the wonders of the earth, especially now when the climate crisis is upon us. The artist feels her purpose deeply. Her work and her words speak to the interconnectedness of life and how we’re all in this crisis together. Her hope is that through her work, people will get a better understanding of the connections and the danger we face with our warming planet.
In her description of “Flow,”, she says, “Everything from the smallest microorganisms to the largest ecosystems are connected through, and depend on, various cycles, such as the water cycle, carbon cycle, and food web. Humans are a part of this matrix. By understanding and respecting these infinite connections, we can work towards a more harmonious relationship with nature, a deeper appreciation for the natural world, and a recognition of our responsibility to protect and preserve it.”
Art and science together in Rutstein’s works tell a story. It’s both a story of the world, and a story of an artist’s wonder at the world and her conviction that telling these stories matter. I was moved by the work and by Rutstein’s stories. And I love the paradigm of art telling stories. Work like this, it does matter.
‘All the Stars in the Sea,” solo exhibition by Rebecca Rutstein, at Bridgette Mayer Gallery, through Oct. 19, 2024
See a video of Rebecca Rutstein speaking about her work and her residencies on the oceanographic voyages.
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