Ruth Oron

This work has a certain simplicity. I began with two flat pieces of clay, which I twisted and then attached. 

In the midst of my work, I saw that I was dealing with one of my deepest questions. I remember being asked by my Aesthetic Realism consultants: “Do you think your ups and downs go together?” “Clearly not,” I said. They continued: “Is it the same person who can laugh one moment and cry the next? We would like you to put together your peaks and your valleys.”

As I tried to relate the bases to the peaks in the two sections by the use of continuous, graceful curves, I was pleased to feel these two aspects were closer in me.

H: 14.5", W: 13.5", D:10"

2014 

H: 14.5", W: 13.5", D:10"

2014 

H: 14.5", W: 13.5", D: 10"

2014

H: 9", W: 12", D: 11.25"

2014

H: 9", W: 12", D: 11.25"

2014

H: 9", W: 12", D: 11.25"

2014

H: 8", W: 15", D: 9"

2013

H: 8", W: 15", D: 9"

2013

H: 8", W: 15", D: 9"

2013

H: 6.5", W: 9", D: 8"

2013

H: 6.5", W: 9", D: 8"

2013

H: 6.5", W: 9", D: 8"

2013

H: 7", W: 10", D: 9"

2013

H: 7", W: 10", D: 9"

2013

H: 7", W: 10", D: 9"

2013

Growing up in Israel, I was proud to be one of many people who spent years cultivating the rocky soil of my kibbutz, Ramat Hashofet. 

Working on this sculpture brought me closer to the earth I love. I’m deeply sorry that this land has been for years a cause of bloodshed and agony between two peoples whose histories are so deeply equated with it. I’m glad to say that the education of Aesthetic Realism can make for peace at last in our dear land:  http://bit.ly/20Qrxl6

H: 8.5", W: 15.5", D: 7.5"

2011

H: 8.5", W: 15.5", D: 7.5"

2011

H: 8.5", W: 15.5", D: 7.5"

2011

When I learned from Aesthetic Realism that my deepest desire was to like the world, be affected by it, see its meaning, things which I once barely noticed such as autumn leaves, became vivid to me. Today, the first thing I do when I go out is to look up, and I always have an emotion about the sky.

An Aesthetic Realism assignment which I treasure is to write a sentence about one thing you liked in the world that day. Very often, my sentence is about what Hamlet called “ this most excellent canopy, the air,,,this brave o'erhanging firmament.”

I hope this work conveys some of my “romance” with the sky!

H: 9", W: 13.5", D: 7"

2012

H: 9", W: 13.5", D: 7"

2012

H: 9", W: 13.5", D: 7"

2012

Coolness and warmth, wet and dry are opposites integral to the art of clay.  The material needs moisture in order to be shaped. Then it must be completely dried before being fired in the kiln.

In life, the relation of warmth and coolness are so often tormenting.  In an Aesthetic Realism consultation, I was asked “Miss Oron, have you been hot-headed and also icily distant—to the very same people?” I began to realize how much this was a way of life with me that made for deep unsureness and shame.

One of the large reasons I love the process of clay sculpture is how sensibly it puts together warmth and coolness, and that is what I tried to pay homage to in “Fire” and “Water (97).” 

H: 8.5", W: 15", D: 8.5"

2011

H: 8.5", W: 15", D: 8.5"

2011

H: 8.5", W: 15", D: 8.5"

2011

Coolness and warmth, wet and dry are opposites integral to the art of clay.  The material needs moisture in order to be shaped. Then it must be completely dried before being fired in the kiln.

In life, the relation of warmth and coolness are so often tormenting.  In an Aesthetic Realism consultation, I was asked “Miss Oron, have you been hot-headed and also icily distant—to the very same people?” I began to realize how much this was a way of life with me that made for deep unsureness and shame.

One of the large reasons I love the process of clay sculpture is how sensibly it puts together warmth and coolness, and that is what I tried to pay homage to in “Water" and “Fire (94).” 

H: 8.75", W: 14", D: 2.25"

2012

H: 8.75", W: 14", D: 2.25"

2012

H: 8.75", W: 14", D: 2.25"

2012

H: 9", W: 14", D: 7"

2010-11

H: 9", W: 14", D: 7"

2010-11

H: 9", W: 14", D: 7"

2010-11

The Roman ruins are notably revered; I am one of their adorers!  

When I saw a ballet on a summer night at the Baths of Caracalla http://bit.ly/1XZMNWD, it took my breath away.  The relation of monumentality and destruction, past and present, was beautiful. 

In this work, I tried to pay homage to these mighty ruins that still cause grand emotions even after nearly 2,000 years!

H 7.25", W: 15.5", D: 8.5"

2011

H 7.25", W: 15.5", D: 8.5"

2011

H 7.25", W: 15.5", D: 8.5"

2011

H: 9", W: 12.5", D: 9.5"

2012

H: 9", W: 12.5", D: 9.5"

2012

H: 9", W: 12.5", D: 9.5"

2012

H: 14", W: 4.75", D: 4.75"

2013

H: 14", W: 4.75", D: 4.75"

2013

H: 14", W: 4.75", D: 4.75"

2013

H: 11.5", W: 9", D: 8"

2015

H: 11.5", W: 9", D: 8"

2015

H: 11.5", W: 9", D: 8"

2015

In a series of three works (185 and 186), I gave myself the assignment of trying to make a composition, by using only a single geometric shape.

While I have loved the ethereality and perfection of circles, here I wanted to show their other possibilities. I purposefully made them rough, heavy and uneven; and used oxide to give them a rusted quality.  

Once, I so much wanted to see myself as perfect, and felt humiliated when it was clear I wasn't. Trying to see the perfection and imperfection in circles has me welcome more seeing these opposites in myself! 

H: 13", W: 9", D: 8"

2016

H: 13", W: 9", D: 8"

2016

H: 13", W: 9", D: 8"

2016

In a series of three works (186 and 191), I gave myself the assignment of trying to make a composition, using a single geometric shape. Here, as I juxtaposed similar-sized rectangles, I was looking to see how much diversity and contrast I could show within sameness. 

H: 11.5, W: 11", D:9"

2015

H: 11.5, W: 11", D:9"

2015

H: 11.5, W: 11", D:9"

2015

This is the last work in a series of three (185 and 191. In the first two, I attempted to make compositions using single geometric shapes. Here, I combined those shapes--circles and rectangles--and added oblongs.

In his essay "The Drama of Hardness and Softness in Painting" Eli Siegel has this beautiful description:

"Lines, when curved, make for softness; when straight, hardness. A powerful line is both wavering and assertive. Planes maintain the drama of hardness and softness. It is quite clear that a circle is softer than an oblong tipped at an angle."

H: 11", W: 13", D: "6

2015

H: 11", W: 13", D: "6

2015

H: 11", W: 13", D: "6

2015

In “Is Beauty the Making One of Opposites?,” Eli Siegel asks: “Does every work of art show the kinship to be found in objects and all realities?—and at the same time the subtle and tremendous difference, the drama of otherness, that one can find among the things of the world?”

Once, I went from wanting to soothe people and then to making razor-sharp comments about them. When I described in an Aesthetic Realism consultation, how much I loathed myself I was asked: “Do you think sometimes severity can be the greatest kindness?  If your purpose is to make a person stronger, it is!” 

I was trying to use “the drama of otherness” that the sharpness of the glass and the gentleness of the clay represent to enhance the work.

H: 17.5", W: 12.5", D: 13"

2016

H: 17.5", W: 12.5", D: 13"

2016

H: 17.5", W: 12.5", D: 13"

2016

In his great essay, "Art As the Exquisite,” Eli Siegel writes:

"All art goes on the presumption that reality is more delicate, finer than we ordinarily see it....That which tends to vanish while definitely there is exquisite....The search for meaning is also a search for exquisiteness."

The base of this sculpture was originally a work in itself. But feeling it was incomplete, I added shards of broken glass, which I think made it more delicate and interesting.

H: 17", W: 12", D: 9.5"

2016

H: 17", W: 12", D: 9.5"

2016

H: 17", W: 12", D: 9.5"

2016

In his essay "Art As the Exquisite," Eli Siegel writes:

"All art goes on the presumption that reality is more delicate, finer than we ordinarily see it....That which tends to vanish while definitely there is exquisite....The search for meaning is also a search for exquisiteness."

The base I used for this sculpture was originally a work in itself. But feeling it was incomplete, I added shards of broken, clear glass, which I think made it more delicate and interesting.

As a sculptor, my search for meaning continues always.

H: 15", W: 15", D: 10.75"

2015-16

H: 15", W: 15", D: 10.75"

2015-16

H: 15", W: 15", D: 10.75"

2015-16

As I contemplated this work, I thought of Eli Siegel's question about Heaviness and Lightness from his definitive essay, "Is Beauty the Making One of Opposites?":

"Is there in all art, and quite clearly in sculpture, the presence of what makes for lightness, release, gaiety?—and is there the presence, too, of what makes for stability, solidity, seriousness?—is the state of mind making for art both heavier and lighter than that which is customary?

H: 14.5", W: 13", D: 9.5"

2015-16

H: 14.5", W: 13", D: 9.5"

2015-16

H: 14.5", W: 13", D: 9.5"

2015-16

H: 4", W: 11.5", D: 7.5"

2009

H: 4", W: 11.5", D: 7.5"

2009

H: 4", W: 11.5", D: 7.5"

2009

H: 17", W: 18", D: 12"

2016

H: 17", W: 18", D: 12"

2016

H: 17", W: 18", D: 12"

2016

H: 13", W: 12.75", D: 10"

2016

H: 13", W: 12.75", D: 10"

2016

H: 13", W: 12.75", D: 10"

2016

H: 12.5", W: 15", D: 10"

2016

H: 12.5", W: 15", D: 10"

2016

H: 12.5", W: 15", D: 10"

2016