Gerry Ruecker

Gerry Ruecker is a self-taught artist and art educator who has for the past thirty years, been working in mixed media sculpture, both functional and non-functional. He creates assemblages utilizing primarily disparate cast-off materials and found objects, such as old furniture and scraps of wood, rusted and tarnished scraps of metal, old toys, kitsch etc. “I have always been drawn to the intrinsic beauty of aged and time-worn objects. The fact that these items have previously experienced a full and complete history with an entirely different purpose, whether perceived or imagined, passionately appeals to me. Living in a time of plastic overuse and ‘fast culture’, I find it appealing that these once useful items might be given the opportunity for a new reimagined life, eg: repurposed in an object of art.

“My pieces are primarily an exploration in form, substance and materiality, and reference ideas of sense of place, personal and impersonal histories (both real and imagined), and the concept of permanence/impermanence. My working process is intuitive and spontaneous in nature, much like improvisation in music. Pieces develop in a completely unplanned fashion, having no specific intent regarding outcome or materials to be utilized. Individual works develop through various stages of transformation, with a theme or issue frequently rising to the surface of my non-conscious mind mid-process, taking over direction of the piece at that point, and guiding it to fruition. The completed works are raw and rough by conventional notions, and flirt with excess, while at the same time achieving a certain level of skewed elegance.”

Ruecker’s creative influences include the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi; Wabi Sabi (the Japanese philosophy of imperfection and impermanence); the Italian Design group Memphis, and American Sculptor Nick Cave. He has exhibited frequently in Canada and Jamaica, and his work can be found in numerous collections both nationally and internationally, including Saskatchewan Arts Board and City of Regina Permanent Collections.