Ruth Lantz

Statement

I use paint processes to investigate how screens have shifted our understanding of space. Using landscape images as a signal for the history of illusionistic space, I merge landscape references with abstract techniques to create works that capture the tension between two virtual spaces—a painted substrate and a screen. Using applications that are both controlled and improvisational, I play with flatness vs. depth and opacity vs. transparency. Condensing the digital impression and the painterly gesture into one surface, I create an image that is at once familiar but also removed, thus challenging the viewer to question technology’s role in our perception of nature and space.

I utilize the landscape images that are presented to us as digital backdrops for our everyday experiences. MAC IOS desktop images, video games such as The Oregon Trail, and built wireframe environments serve as starting points for my paintings and works on paper. Using various combinations of acrylic paint, watercolor, spray applications, colored pencil and silkscreen I rely on methodical processes to construct my surfaces. These applications create luminous depth and imply texture but appear virtually flat mimicking images that have been spatially condensed and visually altered through technological programs.

Areas of Interest:  Landscape, Glitch Aesthetics, DataMoshing, Virtual Space, Computer Screen Savers, Hudson River School and the American Sublime

About

Ruth Lantz, an Illinois-based artist, received her Masters in Visual Studies from the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) in Portland, OR in 2010. Her work has been featured nationally at numerous galleries and institutions, including the Rockford Art Museum (Rockford, IL), Russo Lee Gallery (Portland, OR)  Disjecta (Portland, OR), Washington State University Vancouver (Vancouver, WA), Governors State University (University Park, IL), St. Louis Artist’s Guild (St. Louis, MO), Northern Illinois University (Dekalb, IL)  and Indianapolis Art Center (Indianapolis, IN). Her work was featured at the Portland International Airport and at the Fringe Festival at Southern Oregon University and she was a presenter in the “Making a Better Painting” Symposium at the Hoffman Gallery at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR. Lantz is the founder of Crit Connection, a project providing networking opportunities and resources to emerging and mid-career artists.

CV

Education

2010 MFA in Visual Studies, Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) Portland OR

2004 BFA in Studio Arts, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Chicago IL

Solo Exhibitions

2023

Hugh N. Ronald Gallery at The Arts Place, Portland IN, Landscape Provocations 

2019

AVA, Astoria OR, Sites Unseen

Portland International Airport, Portland OR, Technotope

2018

Southern Oregon University Thorndyke Gallery, Ashland OR, Transformative Saturation

2017

Portland Community College Sylvania Campus, Northview Gallery, Portland OR, GlitchScape

2016

Governors State University, Black Box Gallery, University Park IL, VistaVision                                             Lower Columbia College Art Gallery, Longview WA, Sightlines

2014

University of Washington Vancouver, Vancouver WA, Slow Burn

2012

Stumptown Downtown, Portland OR, Shifting Meridian 

2009

In House Gallery, Portland OR, Vacillations

The Lodge Gallery at Allied Works Architecture, Portland OR, InBetween

Pacific Northwest College of Art, MFA Central, Portland OR, Infinite Spaces

2007 Emission Studios, Chicago IL, Nebulosity

Selected Exhibitions

2024

Freeport Art Museum, Freeport, IL Midwest Juried Show

Arc Gallery, Chicago IL, Doomscapes

Northern Illinois University, Dekalb IL, Screenic Paradigms 2.0 : artist and curator

2023

Evanston Arts Center, Evanston + Vicinity Biennial. Evanston IL

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Bloc Gallery, Champaign IL 

2022

Rockford Art Museum, Rockford IL, The Midwest Biennal: curated by Frank Juarez

Neon Heater, Findley OH, Screenic Paradigms

Piano Craft Gallery, Boston MA, Finding a Memory: curated Erika B. Hess 

St. Louis Artists Guild, St. Louis MO, Visions of the America Landscape: Juried by Emmy Lingscheit

Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis IN, Artists of the Midwest: Juried by Jean Robertson

2021

Dodomu Gallery, New York NY, New Contemporaries 

2020

Lewis and Clark College Hoffman Gallery, Portland OR, Making a Better Painting                             

Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica CA, Left Coast Annual: Juried by Carin Adams

2019   

GIFC Worldwide Show Series, various venues

2016

Governors State University Visual Arts Gallery, University Park IL, Abstraction: Ways of Making

2015

Portland Community College Paragon Gallery, Portland OR, PCC Faculty and Staff Exhibition 

2014

Linfield College, McMinnville OR, Landscape: A Survey of Regional Contemporary Painting 

Nisus Gallery, Portland OR, Flatlands 

2013

Heathman Hotel, Portland OR, Profound Impact PNCA Staff and Alumnus

Russo Lee Gallery, Portland OR, New Views

2012

Washington State University Vancouver, Vancouver WA, Faculty and Staff Exhibition

Swarm Gallery, Oakland CA, True Places 

2011

Pacific Northwest College of Art Gallery 214, Portland OR, Variations 

Worksound, Portland OR, Identity Paintings 

Ditch Projects, Springfield OR, ON&ON&ON 

2010

Pacific Northwest College of Art Swigert Commons, Portland OR, Morph/Shif

PNCA MFA Thesis Exhibition, Goldsmith Building, Portland OR

WorkSound, Portland OR, Transverse 

2009

Disjecta, Portland OR, Egocentric

2008

The Lodge Gallery at Allied Works Architecture, Portland  OR, Ritual of Initiation

2006

Emission Studios, Chicago  IL, See Under Me

Other Projects

2020 Founder: Crit Connection,  A project providing networking opportunities to artists

through monthly one-on-one connections for conversation and critique.  2020-present

Teaching Experience

University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Urbana IL, Visiting Artist – 2023

Portland Community College, Cascade Campus, Portland OR – 2012-present

Heartland Community College, Normal IL – 2021

Washington State University Vancouver, Vancouver WA – 2012-2020

More Info and Links

Podcast: New Visionary Podcast – Building Community Through Conversation and Critique with Ruth Lantz

Writing: Down in the Uncanny Valley: The Landscapes of Ruth Lantz by Jeff Ostergren

Lecture: The Machine in the Mountain – Ruth Lantz at UIUC

Interview: I Like Your Work: Ruth Lantz 

ruth lantz artist head shot