Elizabeth Ruskin Shanklin (Revolutionary)
Elizabeth Ruskin Shanklin, Pandemic Portrait, acrylic on paper, 9”x11”, $750
A colorful self portrait by Elizabeth Ruskin Shanklin, done in expressive brush strokes.
A mixed media collage by Elizabeth Ruskin Shanklin.
A vibrant self portrait painted by Elizabeth Ruskin Shanklin
An expressive still life painted by Elizabeth Ruskin Shanklin, featuring a potted plant with large arching leaves, outlined in magenta.
Tell us more about yourself. What has your journey been like as an artist?
As an artist, I finished a BFA degree at University of Wisconsin Superior in painting and dance during the 70's. My painting instructors were abstract expressionists (I had one female instructor) and as women in the program we were just beginning to understand the complexity of the journey.
After moving to Minneapolis St. Paul during the 90’s, I returned to painting at in my late 40's, worked at various studios in the twin cities, dealt with disability and single parenting. I filled my studio with small pieces of ephemeral objects putting them back together in new ways, creating 3 dimensional and 2 dimensional collage. Acrylics gave me free license to paint on anything. I could mark the last 25 years of my artistic career with self portraits; I found it [to be] a way to connect with myself, and eventually used it as a project with seniors and in individual therapy. I was able to see the Denver Art Museum show in 2018, Women of Abstract Expressionism. [I was] stunned by the scope of the work and the women's inspiration to keep going. I often visit Alice Neel's work at the MIA to get more instruction in doing portraits and collage and to remember that single mothers see the world from a position like no other. Her story stays with me always.
Please tell us about the artwork you are showing in Revolutionary: The Feminine Perspective Beyond 50.
The piece "Pandemic Portrait" was part of a group of self portraits that I painted while recovering during the pandemic. I did a group of those portraits wearing old hats found in a garage, using myself as a model as I waited for our lives to resume. The mirror became my expression of color, the topic was isolation and delighting in my own company.
You mentioned self-portraits have been an on-going part of your artistic practice. How has this part of your practice evolved over time?
Self portraits over the years using oil, acrylic and collage, have always interested me more than photographs, as if painting in the age of "selfies" is a courageous act.
It's about where I'm going, where I've been, what I learned, what I'm feeling today, what is around me. Painting has a way of satisfying my need to see eye to eye with people. My artwork has evolved now into memorials for friends who have died, learning to make a painting as an "offering," giving paintings away to friends, an anchor in a very temporary world, and reflecting the landscape around me.
We are really excited about this exhibition. It's amazing to bring so many great women and femme artists together. How does it feel to be included in the show?
This show, different from all the other shows where I contributed, is about what we as women artists have overcome, contributed and formed. It's about community as many of us have met each other over the past years. Some of the contributors are people I have come to admire for their refusal to quit as well as the glorious artwork that they share. The blessing of being 75 is more than just memory but how it all fits together, each event, each painting.
Elizabeth Ruskin Shanklin is in her mid 70’s and has been painting since the 1960’s moving from oil paint, to mixed media and collage, to acrylics on paper. She graduated with a BFA from University of Wisconsin Superior studying with Bill Morgan and Len Peterson. She recently began a portrait project in Northeast Minneapolis seniors community and is a practicing clinical narrative and art therapist Her work has moved from oil painting to collage to assemblage to mixed media development with acrylic and pastel. Recently during trips to California and Hawaii and Women of Abstract Expressionism in Denver, she was influenced by change in light color and the pattern. Liz has participated in group shows at the Jax Building, art crawls, Black Dog, California Building, Art A Whirl, Robbin Gallery (prize winner), Geisha Gallery, Metro Gallery, Calhoun Building, and Solar Arts.