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Creativity: The Flowering
Tornado, Art by Ginny Ruffner
February 7 - April 11, 2004
Creativity: The Flowering Tornado, Art by
Ginny Ruffner will be on view at the Columbia Museum
of Art from February 7 through April 11, 2004. Seattle artist Ginny Ruffner's
works of art have graced the covers of art publications and have been included
in major exhibitions in galleries and art museums in America, Europe and
Japan. The exhibition includes approximately a dozen of the artist's finest
lamp-worked glass objects and bronze sculptures. These pieces are drawn
from Ruffner's private collection and provide a brief retrospective of her
career. (left: Ginny Ruffner, Brain Brakes, 1998, Glass
and Mixed Media)
Ruffner uses glass and sculpture to communicate her dreams,
desires, frustrations, and fantasies. Frames incorporating sculptural elements
such as chains, flowers, bear traps, hearts and arrows, along with the focal
point - a large tornado with wings - relate to a different facet of the
creative process. The tornado with wings may refer to the wellspring of
creative thought, while the frame bound in chains cautions the viewer to
remain aware of the picture.
Ruffner graduated from the University of Georgia with a
degree in painting and drawing in 1975. By 1985 she had moved to Seattle
and was teaching at the Pilchuck School of Glass. By 1991, at age 39, Ruffner
was on the board of the Seattle Arts Commission and Pilchuck School and
was president of the Glass Art Society. In December 1991, Ruffner was involved
in a life-altering traffic accident, which left her in a coma for five weeks.
When she awoke her identity had been erased, and she had to re-learn everything
from her favorite color to who she was as an artist. Amazingly, she returned
to her art only seven months after the accident that nearly killed her.
With the aid of her team she continued to create her painted flamework sculptures
but with themes that reflect the unexpected turn that her life has taken.
Continuing to see her sculptures as canvases for her thoughts, her work
has a joyous, narrative quality that continues to capture the attention
of art critics and collectors alike. Her work is an unabashed celebration
of life that invites viewers to celebrate with her.(right: Ginny
Ruffner, Balance Series: Finding Sources, 1995, Glass and Mixed Media)
This exhibition has been organized by the Montgomery Museum
of Fine Arts, and is sponsored by The Jon and Mary Shirley Foundation, Dr.
Berry L. Wilson, Corina M. Gauntt, The Bagley Wright Family Foundation,
and Southern Guaranty Insurance Company.
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Museum of Art in Resource Library
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