Artist Ruth Ander speaks to us about her process as a printmaker, the cultural importance of Stokes Croft, and how the landscapes she’s lived by have shaped the works appearing in her latest exhibition Ragged Edges at KIT FORM this month…Artist Ruth Ander speaks to us about her process as a printmaker, the cultural importance of Stokes Croft, and how the landscapes she’s lived by have shaped the works appearing in her latest exhibition Ragged Edges at KIT FORM this month…
Hello, Ruth! Your upcoming solo exhibition is called Ragged Edges. It’s an evocative title; what does it mean to you, and how does it capture the ideas running through the work?
As a printmaker, I like to break the rules, which means I often don’t register each layer of my prints meticulously. This means I get ragged edges on my prints, which I really love (sometimes it’s my favourite part of the piece). It’s also a way of seeing the history of the print – the way the layers have built up.
In terms of subject matter, I’ve always been drawn to the edge places – particularly on this collection of islands that we call home. Given half the chance, I’ll walk out to the most westerly/southerly/highest/ northerly point of any given bit of land. It seems to be the place where the veil is thinnest. If you look at a map of the British Isles you’ll see the edges frayed and drifting off into the sea – ragged edges. We live within the frayed and ragged edges of this land.
The landscapes in the exhibition are inspired by places that have shaped your life. What is it about these particular places that keeps drawing you back, both emotionally and creatively?
The main landscapes that are the subjects of this exhibition are the ancient landscapes of Wessex (which in my world mostly means Dorset and Somerset), the Severn Estuary/Bristol Channel and the almost polar opposite landscape of the Suffolk coast.
They all give me something different and mean something to me. The estuary is my nearest bit of coastline and it’s visually wonderful: the massive expanses of sand and mud, and the marks made by the tide, the reflections of sky on the wet mud, the colours of silt in the water, the counterpoint of Wales and the estuary islands to focus the eye and give context and most of all the light. The quality of light at the coast is so different to ‘everyday light’, and changes so fast. Print and collage are perfect for depicting the light, with their transparent, nuanced, layers of colour and texture.
I have a real feeling for Dorset and Somerset ancient landscapes; the feel and flow of them – and I’m inspired by the 20th-century English artists, such as Eric Ravilious, who also depicted them. We don’t know why these man-made landscapes were created, but we do know that ancient peoples must have been using the landscape as a tool for remembrance, for community cohesion and embodied practices – a little like the songlines of Indigenous Australians. I love the sightlines, the horizons and the roll and roil of the land.
And Suffolk is a relatively recent inspiration – I’ve had the opportunity to stay there over a period of about 10 years, specifically in Aldeburgh. The topography is so different that initially I had no idea how to approach it, in the end I’ve made much more abstract and brighter coloured work, inspired by the fishing detritus and boats on the shingle beaches. The juxtaposition of the fluorescent coloured plastics with soft pebbles and sea cabbage is visually stunning.
Can you tell us a little about your process, and what multiple techniques allow you to say that a single medium couldn’t?
I am a printmaker at heart, and even my mixed media art stems from that way of working. Expressing through indirect marks (made first on a surface of some kind, then transferred to thin paper) feels more natural to me, it also allows for numerous thin and transparent layers to be built up, without too much relief or texture. I think our eyes like that, figuring out layers and history on a flat surface.
I also like working with constraints. With a print on paper, you really only have a few colours and tones to work with, so you absolutely have to make the most of them. It makes you very inventive and forces you to pare down what you want to express in the picture – is it that line, that form, this composition? – so you get very clear about what you want from a picture.
Ragged Edges is taking place at KIT FORM in Stokes Croft. What makes this area such an exciting place to exhibit?
Stokes Croft is a very particular area of Bristol, not quite in the centre, on the cusp of North Bristol, wedged between the student, the more well off, Afro-Caribbean and immigrant communities, it seems to absorb something from all of these groups.
Staunchly refusing to gentrify, it is still a little rough round the edges, with secret places to discover and interesting finds around every corner. I’ve always lived south of the river, so when I moved into Jamaica Street Studios it was a great new place for me to explore (I thought I knew Bristol pretty well, but I was wrong!).
Seemingly every wall is covered in street art (including by some big names), it sometimes feels like the creative heart of Bristol. KIT FORM has been turned into an exhibition and event space by the Jamaica Street Studios artists (having formerly been a restaurant) and it now sits at the heart of Stokes Croft, hosting some of the most interesting art and happenings in the city. It’s a big, beautiful space and a brilliant community asset. Its ethos reflects the community and vibrancy of the area.
Jamaica Street Studios recently secured the future of its Grade II-listed building after a long campaign. What did that achievement mean to you personally?
It means the security of a reasonably priced studio, without the risk of massive rent increases or being subject to landlord whims (including eviction). It’s incredibly difficult for artists to find well priced space to work in Bristol, particularly as the draw for landlords of selling to developers or turning buildings into flats, is ever present because of property prices.
A place to make work that isn’t so expensive it becomes an intolerable pressure is invaluable for me, especially as a parent. Working from a home space, even if I had one, means very blurred boundaries between parenting, housework and making art. I’ve found a studio space to be essential to my development as an artist. As an artist it’s all too easy to place your work below that of an office worker, for instance. A dedicated space for artists bestows respect from others and self-respect.
What role do these studio spaces play in building a community of artists?
Securing the building for the creative community of Bristol as well as for Stokes Croft will add fuel to Bristol’s creative world, and likely add money to our economy (Jamaica Street Studios houses all kinds of creatives, from contemporary artists, to Royal Academicians, to illustrators, to commercial artists). Keeping it as a nurturing incubator space for art will benefit the city, I have no doubt.
It is one of only a handful of studio spaces in the country that now has full control over its building, which means the opportunities, money and cultural wealth it generates will stay within Bristol and the artist community and that its future is safe.
Before I moved there in 2023, I underestimated how much working within a community of artists is beneficial to my practice and mental health. Being around all kinds of creatives, who make a living from their art is very inspiring. Not having colleagues as such, it’s priceless to have other artists around. We all know what it takes to keep doing this and we support each other.
Is there a particular feeling, memory or way of looking at the landscape that you’d love people to take home with them after visiting Ragged Edges?
This is the first time I’ve shown some of my larger pieces, so I’d love for people to feel immersed in the landscapes from those. I’d love them to remember the light dancing on the water and have a few moments of beauty and tranquility in a busy world.
Someone once described my art as poems, and I love that. Small insights into a place, that, hopefully, you want to read again and again.
KIT FORM is a not a stuffy, art world space. Rather it’s a place to look at art, be quiet and take it all in or talk to the artist (me!), maybe watch how I make prints (I’ll be demonstrating on the weekend of 12-13 September), which is a very accessible and fun thing to do, or chat about what landscapes you love too.
Although the artwork on display is for sale, there’s no pressure to buy, and no judgement.
Ruth Ander’s exhibition Ragged Edges will be at KIT FROM 9-13 September | jamaicastreetstudios.co.uk/kit-form | ruthander.co.uk
