Biography

Ruth Borgenicht is a New Jersey based artist who utilizes the chain mail pattern to create sculptures and vessels that conjure up a sense of permanence and defensive concealment. Visually stone-like, her pieces appear strong and impenetrable, belying their inherent fragility. Borgenicht became interested in the creative possibilities of ceramics while working toward her degree in mathematics. The exploration and discovery of systems, which interested her in mathematics, became tangible and immediate in ceramic sculpture. Borgenicht's unique ceramic works, at once solid and shifting, strong and fragile, often transform and reconfigure with subtle twists to reveal variations on the theme of organic geometry and visual poetry. Her creative concept often begins with simple geometric forms such as a square, rectangle, cylinder or triangle, but the resulting sculpture is abstracted by the mobility of the interlocked rings that settle into a slightly different shape each time they are relocated.

Artist Statement

My undergraduate degree at Rutgers University was in math. Love of math was not enough to invent new ideas in this field – unfortunately for me that also required genius. The discovery that I could be far more creative with clay than with math came to me during the last year of undergraduate schooling. Flash forward 25 years to when I completed an MFA, which launched me in a new direction of socially engaged and participatory projects. This opened up a broader context for both my role as an artist and my artwork. Much of my ceramic knowledge comes from other artists, books and the many residencies that have provided me with a supportive and well equipped environment, I am much indebted to all of them.