Ruth Neustadter

As a woman, dancer, choreographer, teacher and a visual artist, I have found that painting weaves together my many passions. My work has moved from sculptures made of fiber and found objects into assemblages, collages, many three dimensional, others traditional paintings. One series of my work interplays elements of cement, glass, sand and found objects into thick acrylic or oil paint. These materials form layers and textures, pulling the viewer into and around the work, producing the possibility of very personal interpretations. Another series portrays the human figure, often life size and often painted on multiple canvases, breaking up and distorting the figure, creating unexpected negative spaces. My cement paintings and three dimensional canvases are bold, highly textured and sensual. These pieces are born out of my former career in dance when I taught, performed, directed and choreographed. I studied with major modern dancers; Martha Graham, Alwin Nicolais, Merce Cunningham and others. The compositions are reminiscent of my exposure and involvement in a three-dimensional space, translated into a two-dimensional format. Much of my work breaks away from the traditional picture plane and moves into sculptural forms on the wall. I want a kinesthetic response; a desire to touch, sensuality and ultimately, I want the observer to be pulled into and around each painting as in a dance. Ruth Bauer Neustadter