Ruth Bloch: Something Pure
10/16/2020
If you take a gaze outside you might notice the trees sway in the wind, the verdant swathes of grass, or the pleasant curve of the sidewalk. We may put a poetic spin on our vision but we often rely on reality, we rely on what our eyes see. Ruth Bloch, however, loses herself in her work saying " I dream the trees during the night. When I look out at nature I don’t see nature anymore. I see my trees with the glass, the colors, the coolness -- I grow with each piece." This sentiment of inventing and growing has a lot to do with Ruth Bloch's history and perspective on both art and progress.
Bloch's history is just as unbelievable as her work--intricate, symbolic, and pure. Both of her parents escaped the Holocaust and made it to a kibbutz in Isreal where Bloch was born and raised. When Bloch was just nine years old her mother passed away while giving birth to her younger brother. This caused Bloch to have a sort of epiphany that she should take care of all that her mother did including her mother's art. The tools were there and now Bloch had a burning passion to put them to use.
Her unique style was honed and crafted every since that moment and when she went to the Avni Institute of Art in Tel Aviv to study her professors confided that she had already created a sense of self in her work and should continue down the path she was paving for herself.
Ruth Bloch soon started a family of her own, raising them on the kibbutz. Yet, she found this way of life to be restrictive when it came to her artistic expression; so, her family moved out to the desert where she let her imagination run wild.
Bloch's time in the desert was the root cause behind her development of cancer. Thus, despite the joy she gleaned from the sandy landscape, she had to travel to Tel Aviv for two years of treatment. In Tel Aviv is where Bloch's recognition skyrocketed.
Her work began to pop up all across the globe, onlookers mesmerized by her bronze sculptures and novel figures.
Despite her recognition, Ruth Bloch works intensely on every aspect of her art ensuring that each step contains a deep individuality and definite pureness. She herself notes how she does not come in discerning the outcome of each piece but lets them mature and grow with her. They often surprise her just as much as they surprise us.
By: Bridget Aman