Join us for the inaugural walkabout of Human Nature, led by Zeitz MOCAA Curator Julia Kabat, in conversation with artist Ruby Swinney and writer, poet and musician Noah Swinney, as they collaboratively dissect the conceptual and aesthetic underpinnings of the show from their unique perspectives.
Human Nature is a debut solo exhibition that presents an extensive body of ethereal paintings created by Ruby Swinney following her graduate show at the Michaelis School of Fine Art in 2015.
Human Nature takes the viewer on an existential journey, prompting self-reflection as one navigates through the various curated terrains such as ‘The Province,’ ‘The Cityscape,’ ‘Water,’ ‘Nature,’ and ‘The Garden.’ It becomes clear that humans actively seek to establish a place in nature, a space that is often vastly unknown and uncontrollable. Nature’s mastery over us is evident in how its looking presence influences emotional states. In this sense, the meanings of Swinney’s paintings transcend rational thought.
We are vulnerable if we have no place in nature, naked in its sublimity. Humanity strives to uncover the physical secrets of the natural world with the hope of it relinquishing its supremacy.
