Ruth Owens
Kidnapped on a Sunny Day
Beau Rivage African American Gallery
Kidnapped on a Sunny Day, 2024 is an immersive multimedia installation envisioning a dark forest punctuated by sightlines through “windows” into warmly lit clearings. It is a shadowy space enclosed circumferentially by collaged botanical fabric and topped by a skyward view of a live oak canopy. As a confining enclosure, it is reminiscent of the dark forests of fairytales and situates us directly in the midst of a magical natural world. In contrast to the inner darkness, the softly lit windows optimistically feature painted water media of Owens’ family experiencing the gifts of the natural world and video footage of families with children playing on the beach which deepening the considerations of human relationships to nature.
The installation’s walls feature botanical wallpaper designs which falsely portrays the wild natural world in a controlled, sanitized, and aesthetically palatable way. There is an underlying current of human mastery, dominance, and extraction associated with presenting natural scenes in such well-ordered and organized patterns. The controlled view of nature in the wallpaper designs belies a violently extractive mindset about using the non-human world.
A consideration of human relationships with nature is further explored by an audio component of Kidnapped. Upon entering the installation, a voice can be heard reciting a poem reminiscent of the original Grimm fairytales with a violent and dramatic storyline.
Recounting actual events from Owens’ childhood, a small child is beseechingly asked by her grandmother to never forget the generosity of the earth. It is a heart wrenching story of intense love and abduction, and recalibrates our view of the natural world as a mysterious, magical, and untamed entity.
Biography:
Ruth Owens transitioned to a full-time art career after leaving her medical practice of 25 years. Based in New Orleans, she is represented by the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery , and belongs to the artist collective, “The Front.” Owens’ paintings and videos center the black figure, and embrace the physical and spiritual flow between bodies and the natural world, referencing a spiritual black ecology.
Artist residencies include the Joan Mitchell Center, the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Vermont Studio Center, the Studios at MASS MoCA, and the International Studio and Curatorial Program in Brooklyn. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Ackland Art Museum at UNC-Chapel Hill, the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society, and 21c Museum.
