Ruth Chambers
Ruth Chamber’s hand built bulbs and flowers are created out of delicately coloured porcelain and present various stages of their growth patterns. The artist carefully considers and skillfully hand models these sculptures in extreme detail. Her bowls and cylinders reference painting and ceramic histories to literally unsettle our assumptions of the genres.
White Hyacinth Budding III (cat#22.6), 2022, cone 6 hand modelled tinted porcelain, wall mounted, 9 x 2.5 inches (23 x 6.5 cm), $800 Cdn.
Tulip With Bulb Single Leaf (cat#22.5), 2022, cone 6 hand modelled tinted porcelain, wall mounted, 2 x 2 x 6.75 inches (5 x 5 x 17 cm), $450 Cdn.
Tulip With Bulb Sprout (cat#21.8), 2021, cone 6 hand modelled tinted porcelain, wall mounted, 2 x 2 x 4.75 inches (5 x 5 x 12 cm), $250 Cdn.
Crocus With Leaves (cat#22.4), 2022, cone 6 hand modelled tinted porcelain, wall mounted, 1.25 x 1.5 x 3.25 inches (3 x 4 x 8 cm), $275 Cdn.
Crocus With Shoots (cat#22.3), 2022, cone 6 hand modelled tinted porcelain, wall mounted, 1.25 x 1.5 x 2.5 inches (3 x 4 x 6 cm), $250 Cdn
Pink Hyacinth (cat#22.2), 2022, cone 6 hand modelled tinted porcelain, wall mounted, 4 x 4 x 8.75 inches (10x10x22 cm), $800 Cdn.
Crocus Bulb with Brown Skin (cat#20.15), 2020, cone 6 hand modelled tinted porcelain, 1.75 inches (4.5 cm), $100 Cdn.
Crocus Bulb VI (cat#22.1), 2022, cone 6 hand modelled tinted porcelain, wall mounted, 4 x 2 inches (10x5 cm), $400 Cdn.
Pink Tulip (cat#21.2), 2021, cone 6 hand modelled tinted porcelain, wall mounted, 10.25 x 2.25 x 2 inches (26 x 5.5 x 5 cm), $700 Cdn.
Yellow Tulip (cat#21.1), 2021, cone 6 hand modelled tinted porcelain, 8.5 x 3 x 2 inches (21.5 x 7.5 x 5 cm), $700 Cdn.
Croci Bulbs (set of 5, cat#21.7), 2021, cone 6 hand modelled tinted porcelain, 1.5 to 2.5 inches (3.5 to 6.5 cm) in height, $675 Cdn.
Wilting Mauve Tulip 1 (cat#21.3), 2021, cone 6 hand modelled tinted porcelain, wall mounted, 8 x 6 x 2.5 inches (20 x 15 x 6.5 cm), $750 Cdn.
Leaves and Tulip in Bud State (cat#21.5), 2021, cone 6 hand modelled tinted porcelain, 10.5 x 2.25 x 1.25 inches (27 x 5.5 x 3 cm), $650 Cdn.
Rimmed Cylinder with Poplar Leaves (cat#16.2), 2016, cone 10 hand modelled porcelain, 8 x 6 x 6 inches (20 x 15 x 15 cm), $375 Cdn.
Blue/Grey Tulip, 2022, cone 6 hand modelled tinted porcelain, wall mounted, 14 x 6 inches (35.5 x 15 cm), $900.00 Cdn.
Iris XIII, cone 6 hand modelled tinted porcelain, wall mounted, 14 x 2.5 inches (35.5 x 6.5 cm), $900.00 Cdn.
Budding White Hyacinth with Bright Leaves (acquired by Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary).
White Hyacinth - acquired by Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary.
Hyacinth Bulb with Pink Skin (acquired by Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary).
Sweet Peas, Lemons, Strawberries and Avocados, 2018, cone 6 hand modelled stained porcelain with white earthenware base, museum wax, 4 x 7.5 x 13 inches (10 x 19 x 33 cm), acquired by SK Arts (the provincial collection for Saskatchewan).
Chambers is interested in how an object can be more than itself.
Ruth Chambers’ work is rooted in ceramics, where she playfully and decoratively intervenes with objects—often architecturally inspired—by adorning them with foliage-based porcelain ornamentation and intricate lattice structures.
Her ongoing exploration of the still life tradition, with its inherent considerations of space, form, and time, informs her delicate micro-compositions of fragile and improbable porcelain configurations. Through this approach, the artist delves into themes of beauty and temporality, engaging with the "metaphysics of the object" in a thought-provoking manner.
The artist’s cups, saucers, bowls and cylinders reference painting and ceramic histories to literally unsettle our assumptions of the genres. Her handbuilt bulbs, flowers, fruits, and vegetables are crafted from delicately colored porcelain, capturing various stages of their growth with precision. The artist thoughtfully designs and meticulously hand-builds each sculpture, showcasing extraordinary attention to detail.
Chambers graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design (AOCA) and the University of Regina (MFA, 1994). She is Associate Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Regina, where she taught in the Fine Arts Faculty. Studies and residencies have taken her to The Banff Centre, the Sun Valley Centre for the Arts and Humanities in Sun Valley, Idaho, and the University of Guelph in Ontario.
Since the early 1980s, the artist’s work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Canada, the United States and the Itabashi Museum, Tokyo, Japan. Solo exhibitions include “And Victory Goes To The Flowers…” (2019) at the Willock & Sax Gallery; Conservatory (2010), at the Godfrey Dean Gallery, Yorkton Saskatchewan; Temporary Adornment at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, Ontario (2008); and Through the Skin at the International Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago (2006).
In 2007 she was a contributing editor, with Amy Gogarty and Mireille Perron, of Utopic Impulses: Contemporary Ceramics Practice (published by Ronsdale Press), which includes essays that explore contemporary Canadian ceramics as a socially responsible practice.