Artist statement
Our world is a kaleidoscope of colors, shapes, patterns, and designs that form the
objects of our environment. We are constantly bombarded by images and slogans
that inform our daily existence. In my collages, I take these commonplace visuals and
juxtapose them with others that would never appear together. These new
compositions seem to be usual but upon closer scrutiny and further examination one
can see that they are most definitely unusual. They now can be defined as
illuminated landscapes that exist only in these one of a kind, hand cut collages. They
are influenced by my travels, my imagination, and the thousands of pictures in my
files that come together in my subliminal, intuitive mind forming new and exciting
surreal scenarios. These narrative collages often hold a secret story that the viewer
can assemble in their own mind. I invite you to enter my world of fantasy and
humor.
Ruth Oisteanu-collage artist
Ruth Oisteanu was born to two survivors and heroes of the Holocaust in a displaced persons camp in Landsberg, Germany. She came to New York City as an infant and grew up in Brooklyn and Queens, attending Queens college. Over many years at P.S. 105 in the Bronx, she taught first grade, English as a second language and art. Since retiring in 2003, Ruth has devoted her time to jewelry design, beadwork and collage, as well as publishing and displaying her artwork. Her prize-winning collages have been featured in magazines such as Nigredo, Maintenant, Autonomedia and Arteidolia, as well as on the cover for books such as “Perks in Purgatory” by Valery Oisteanu (Itaca press, Dublin, Ireland, 2020). Ruth has appeared in over a dozen group shows in the East Village
A New Yorker — by way of the Soviet Union and Romania — since 1973, Valery Oisteanu has spent the last half century actively working to help the worlds of art, poetry and performance assimilate to his wildly creative point of view. Along the way he has written more than a dozen books of poetry, created untold numbers of surreal collages and performed his “jazzoetry” in myriad clubs and halls around the world. Oisteanu is a living encyclopedia of the avant-garde, one of his missions being to enlighten others to the wholly original movements and creators of art that lit up the world in the early 20th century and beyond. He has counted as personal friends such visionaries as Julian Beck, Ira Cohen, Charles Henri Ford, Ray Johnson, Ted Joans, Judith Malina, Gellu Naum, May Wilson and many others. Among the prizes he has earned is the Kathy Acker Award for his contribution to the avant garde via poetry performance. He lives in New York City with his wife of 50 years, Ruth. For more info go to website: zen-dada.com
