CECILIA RUWETTE’S LIGHT IN TRAGEDY!
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina where she currently lives, Cecilia Ruwette pursues an artistic career along side a teaching career. She has participated in many different exhibitions and competitions and has won several prizes.
Most of her art depicts human tragedy, unrest and disorder in society, the darker side of some people’s lives, maybe the frustrations, loneliness, sadness and despair many feel. There is not much joy, but there seems to be hope, hope of a better day… there is always light, a window, an opening, a solution…
Cecilia, thank you for doing this article with me. I realize these questions are not so easy to answer and that English is not your mother tongue either. Your art is amazing and yet heartbreaking in the sense that it reflects our human condition. Perhaps it serves the purpose of making the viewer aware of his own condition and that he has the power to choose the light.
No. 1) What is art to and for you?
– Art is the need to express what I feel. This needs no explanation, only is there no reason. It give me a way to show reality from my own perspective.
1- El arte es la necesidad de expresar lo que yo siento. Esta necesidad no tiene una explicación, solo esta ahí sin razón. Es para mí una forma de mostrar la realidad desde mi propia perspectiva.
No. 2) What inspires you?
– I do not believe in supernatural inspiration. Just work and do as the images arise. Images that arise from oneself, are personal choices of images, texts, words, which trigger the need to convert them into images filtered by what one feels about life. In particular light is important in my work (painting or drawing) because it creates the climate that best represents what I feel.
2- No creo en la inspiración sobrenatural. Solo trabajo y en la medida que lo hago surgen las imágenes. Imágenes que surgen a partir de uno, son elecciones personales de imágenes, de textos, de palabras, lo que disparan la necesidad de convertirlas en imágenes filtradas por lo que uno siente respecto de la vida. En particular la luz es importante en mi trabajo (pintura o dibujo) porque crea el clima que mejor representa lo que siento.
No. 3) When you are painting, creating, where does it take you? Where does your mind travel?
– I do not know if it leads somewhere.
3- No sé si lleva algún lado.
No. 4) Do you feel visual art, music and health are related and if so, how do you see that?
– All forms of art are an expression of individuals who construct a parallel reality to the concrete. If they are related to health I cannot say. Throughout history, art had different functions. Today this function is dissolved, nothing concrete seems to support more than the human need to transform reality.
4- Todas las artes son expresión de personas particulares que construyen una realidad paralela a la concreta. Si están relacionadas con la salud no sabría decir. A través de la historia el arte tuvo distintas funciones. Hoy esa función esta disuelta, nada concreto parece sustentarla más que la necesidad humana de trasformar la realidad.
No. 5) How do you feel when you are painting?
5 – When I paint I am totally abstracted from reality, my focus is on the work I do, a concentration that only disappears when I finish the work or can no longer continue. Then I can feel something about it, satisfaction or frustration depending on the outcome. If one feels while doing his job, it is lost on me.
5- Cuando pinto me encuentro completamente abstraída de la realidad, mi concentración esta en el trabajo que realizo, una concentración que solo desaparece cuando termino la obra o no la pudo seguir. Después puedo sentir algo al respecto, satisfacción o frustración dependiendo del resultado. Si uno mientras realiza su trabajo siente, pasa desapercibido para mí.
No. 6) When do you do your best work?
– If you mean moment to the day, preferably I do it at night. Now if the question is at what point of achievement do I consider it my best work, there is no exact answer, because I am not aware of it until last few days. Anyway, this appreciation of the work is subjective, I have had very good reviews of works that I felt were bad for me. And I can not discredit those comments. If my work was considered good because something is conveyed, that’s enough.
6 – Si te refieres al momento del día que prefiero pintar es por la noche hasta la madrugada. Ahora bien, si la pregunta es en qué punto yo soy conciente de los resultados de mi trabajo, no hay una respuesta exacta, porque solo después de unos cuantos días puedo ser más objetiva con mi trabajo. De todos modos, esta apreciación de la obra es subjetiva, he tenido muy buenas críticas de obras que no eran buenas para mí. No puedo desacreditar dichas críticas. Si mi trabajo es considerado bueno para otras personas es que la obra algo trasmite y para mí eso es suficiente.
No. 7) Do you identify with your subject and if so, on what level?
– I identify with the topic because it has to do with me and people. I try to capture in my images the side that makes us human. The uncertainty of our existence. The different places where we are located and the challenges imposed on us by life. And all this involves me, uncertainty is felt by me. My work reflects my feelings and thoughts. It is also a form of self discovery. I was painting, for example a face, but do not know how, in so far as the work unfolds as I know, it is intuition. We must be attentive to it, it transcends the merely formal.
7 – Me identifico con el tema porque tiene que ver conmigo y las personas. Trato de captar imágenes, instantes que nos hace humanos. La incertidumbre de nuestra existencia es el tema principal. Podemos mantenernos en la monotonía o intentar ser conscientes de que somos.
Los diferentes lugares donde nos encontramos y los retos que nos impone la vida son momentos de reflexión. Y todo esto me preocupa; la incertidumbre, el sin sentido, la soledad, todo ello es lo que siento. Al mismo tiempo pintar es para mí un acto que descubre cosas impensables que surgen de interior de nuestro inconsciente y hay que estar atento a ello, sino uno puede perder algo realmente valioso.
No. 8) Does painting help you connect with your higher self, whatever that may be for you?
– In this question I have no accurate answer. I’m not a spiritual person, rather I’m realistic and mundane. To put art on a pedestal above all is not realistic, it’s just another human activity, perhaps one of the best. Above all, there is life which nutures us to do our job. Human life has many facets, good and bad, particular circumstances that require us to take position, to choose and be responsible. For me, art is the way I respond to what life offers me, it is my choice to express and modify it.
8 – En esta cuestión no tengo una respuesta exacta. No soy una persona espiritual, sino realista y mundana. Poner el arte en un pedestal por encima de todo, no es realista, es sólo otra actividad humana, quizás una de las mejores del ser humano. Pero ante todo esta la vida, de ella nos nutrimos para hacer nuestro trabajo. La vida humana tiene múltiples facetas, buenas y malas; distintas circunstancias que nos obligan a tomar una posición al respecto, a elegir y hacernos responsable de ello. Para mí entonces el arte se convierte en mi forma de responder ante lo que me ofrece la vida, es mi elección de mostrarla y también modificarla
No. 9) Some people feel that the school systems kill creativity, how do you see that?
– I do not agree with this. Art is another form of knowledge. In my many years of teaching in art schools, I felt proud of the work of my colleagues and mine, because not only do you give the opportunity to explore their imagination but also the possibility of taking a critical look at reality. In my country, the school system implements an education that combines traditional and innovative. I particularly think it is good to know all the art forms and what they meant at the time, learn from the great masters of art in their handling of technique and its location in time and society, and analyze how all this relates well with what happens to us today, art is in my country also involves knowledge of the great thinkers of all times, it is a complete and rewarding look that generates a new vision other than what is transmitted by the media society.
9 – El arte es otra forma de conocimiento. En mis muchos años de la enseñanza en las escuelas de arte, me sentí orgulloso del trabajo de mis colegas y el mío, no sólo porque les da la oportunidad de explorar su imaginación, sino también la posibilidad de tener una mirada crítica de la realidad. En mi país se realiza una educación que combina tradición e innovación, también incluye el conocimiento de los grandes pensadores de todos los tiempos, es una mirada completa y estimulante, que genera un nuevo sitio diferente al transmitido por los de medios de comunicación. Yo particularmente creo que es bueno conocer todas las formas de arte y lo que significaba a la vez, aprender de los grandes maestros del arte en el manejo de la técnica y su ubicación en el tiempo y la sociedad, y analizar cómo todo esto se relaciona bien con lo que nos pasa hoy.
No. 10) I was referring to public school systems rather than art schools.
10- Unfortunately the culture at large is not a subject of importance to the government, whether national or municipal level.
In particular the new municipal government of Buenos Aires where I live and work, are doing everything possible to destroy the public school and including schools of art. From our place and with the support of great artists with national and international awards we are fighting to stop this from happening, but it is difficult to go against the system. Artists in Argentina make a great personal effort to publicize their work.
10 – Por desgracia, la cultura en general no es un tema de importancia para el gobierno, ya sea nacional o municipal. Aunque tenga que reconocer que de vez en cuando se hacen pequeñas cosas para difundir el arte, especialmente las artes plásticas que son las menos valoradas.
En particular, el nuevo gobierno municipal de Buenos Aires, donde vivo y trabajo, están haciendo todo lo posible para destruir la escuela pública y en particular las escuelas de arte. Desde nuestro lugar y con el apoyo de grandes artistas con premios nacionales e internacionales estamos luchando para que esto no suceda, pero es difícil ir contra el sistema. Los artistas en Argentina hacen un gran esfuerzo personal para dar a conocer su trabajo.
Cecilia, I want to thank you for participating in this project and for your most interesting point of view. Until we work together again, I wish you love and light and success in all your endeavours.
TO THE READER :
Your comments are sincerely appreciated. To see more of Cecilia’s great art, please visit the link below. ENJOY!
http://cecilia-ruwette.blogspot.com/
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Comments
There are many good things about this site, but the one that stands above all is the varied art and artists. From reality to fantasy it is always interesting…Enjoyed reading your down to earth, realistic approach to your art. I also enjoy your paintings. They depict human suffering with the same realistism.The drawings on your blog are awesomne as well. Thank you for sharing with us…Cecelia
.-= Cecelia Gay´s last blog ..The Lonely Road =-.
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