Paintings by Ruth Chase

A Sister Among Many

acrylic on canvas, 69 x 120″

Keenly aware of how much the outside world has dictated our choices. She is a mother, a rebel, a brut, and a temptress; her body is an expression of her genetics but does not define her. She liberates herself from old ideas; she releases herself from needing to find new ones. She declares separation from all outside governing parties to determine her worth and responsibilities. She is willing to walk alone, knowing she is never alone. She is a sister amongst many.

**An Offering**
acrylic and wax on canvas, 12 x 12, 2023

If children are one of our greatest treasures and measures for success in society, then how are we doing?
Perhaps this is a mother and child, or maybe the larger figure is a guardian, creator, or protector of new life?

**Beholden**
acrylic and wax on canvas, 10 x 10, 2023

hu·tum kʉle

The Dreamers Show Us The Path
acrylic and wax on canvas, | Video
24 x 24, 2024
in CHIRP Collection

The painting is a culmination of a dialogue with Nevada City Rancheria Tribal Members who shared their historical knowledge of Nisenan Spirituality that can come through dreams. The painting depicts a dark figure, perhaps the Creator, or represents contact with the dream world. The outline of the lighter figure is from a photo of Lorena Davis and represents the dreamer. The figures hover over ˀuƀa seo (Yuba River), with the sky above, and the Ancestral Homelands of the Nisenan, ˀestom janim (Marysville Buttes) in the background. On the sides of the figures are herbs, as it would be common for the dreamer, or “Knock Down Person”, to return from the dream with the knowledge that would help the Tribe, such as special herbs for healing, a premonition about migration routes, or a warning.

“In our culture, we are dreamers, where we learn new languages, and new things through our dreams.” – Saxon Thomas, Nevada City Rancheria Tribal Council, Member at Large

“I believe that we are visited through our dreams. “ – Cindy Buero, Nevada City Rancheria Tribal Member

“I was once visited by my late husband, John, who came to me in a dream to share a very important part of my future that helped me at a difficult time in my life.” – Lorena Davis, Nevada City Rancheria Tribal Council

Empathy

acrylic and wax on canvas, 10 x 10, 2023
in Williams Collection

The emotion of empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

If we are made of stardust, can the emotions we experience here as humans be felt in the cosmos and vice versa?

Unearthed

acrylic and wax on canvas, 24 x 24, 2024
framed

We are more than our bodies, our material selves, we have a spirit, a soul, a quality that lives within us that is not physical and is beyond dense matter but rather made of light.

Cosmos Concealed

acrylic and wax on canvas, 20 x 24, 2023

While painting this piece, I was being led to depict how the cosmic body would appear in human form.
If we are infinitely connected to the universe then within each of us is a mysterious, powerful, earthy, gritty, and soulful spirit capable of creation.

Birth of A Universe

acrylic and wax on canvas, 12 x 12, 2024

To be born is to birth another star in the galaxy.

Star Dust

acrylic and wax on canvas, 24 x 24, 2024
in Delgado Collection

**I Am Many Things At Once**
acrylic on canvas, 54 x 50″, 2021
Inspired by Colleen Graham

**I Am, You Are**
acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48″, 2021
Inspired by Irna Magda and Michelle Amador

Unraveling

acrylic on canvas, 40 x 60″, 2020

Over time, her environment has informed what she should look like, act like, and want. At the time of her becoming, she discovers she must unravel, pick apart, and separate her relationship with the natural world from everything else that has led her astray.

One of the most challenging paintings I’ve done recently. This puzzle took almost two years to solve.

Inspired by Nicole Weaver and Kim Stewart

She Remembers Everything

acrylic on canvas, 40 x 60″, 2020

Finding Another Way

acrylic on canvas, 40 x 60″, 2020
In Williams Collection

Looking at the way girls and women challenge the barriers they face. From discrimination to lack of resources, women have a long history of making shit happen regardless of being told they can’t. Strong, resilient, and wise, women will find ways around systems that hold them back.

Inspired by Adrienne, Carolyn Crist Wright, and Be Boggs.

**With, Without**
*acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48″, 2020*

Gender roles are not always what they appear on the outside.
A collaboration with Luciano Mota.

**Holding**
*acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48″, 2020*

As mothers, women are often the first step in a child’s mental health care, making her a critical partner in the mental health of future generations. The figure crouches to hold herself, in a moment of solitude, she seeks to restore her own emotional and spiritual center amidst the chaos surrounding her. The background is patched together, recognizing the deep work women must do within, to care for themselves and others.

Inspired by a photograph by Dana Divird Stevens of Carolyn Crist Wright

**“Intuition by Definition”**
acrylic on canvas, 12 x 36″, 2020
In the L’Esperance Collection

**“Who Is A Feminist”**
acrylic on canvas, 36 x 73″, 2021

Inspired by Gabi Markham

**“Repurposing Shame”**
acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36″, 2020

Examining the shame that she held at an early age and remembering the wisdom she once had but ignored. She reimagines what was once shame, is now empowered knowledge.

**“She Finds Her Way”**
acrylic on canvas, 36 x 24″, 2020

Experiencing a daughter’s adolescence will awake memories, causing a deep reflection on how childhood shapes us as women, and the role vulnerability plays in our development. An intense relationship between drawing a daughter close and letting her go, allowing her to have her own becoming. Exhibited in Crocker Kingsley 2020

**“Focusing On Possibility”**
acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24″ 2019
In Read Collection

**“Taking On The World With All That I Am ”**
acrylic on canvas, 24 x 36″, 2019
In Kohlmeister Collection

Navigating the world with blind ambition, struggling for self-esteem that is challenged by other girls her age.

**“Women: Independence, Interdependence”**
acrylic, thread, cotton yarn on cardboard with video, 24 x 48″, 2020

A meditation on how pain is stored in the female body. With phrases like I am afraid to be vulnerable, I am not lovable, and childhood fear taught me not to trust. Phrases were written on each disc, and used to create the breast element in the work. Within the work, there are references to menses as independence and interdependence, and the female body as being in service.

“Women: Independence, Interdependence”
Video that accompanies the < painting

**“Coming of Age”**
acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36″, 2019

Transitioning from being a child to being an adult. It continues through the teenage years of life. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. – Wikipedia

**“Introvert”**
acrylic on canvas, 42 x 42″, 2019

Out of all the personality traits that have been studied, introversion / extroversion is one of the most strongly hereditary ones. Being introverted may create additional challenges for girls at a time when they are most vulnerable.

“Innocence as a Privilege”

acrylic on canvas, 55 x 55″, 2019

Remembering feelings of profound loss as the adult world begins pushing itself at her while she is still in the fog of her juvenescence.
Now, she questions her innocence? Will she have the right to choose?
How will the pace of her maturity affect her longterm development?

**“Reality Check”**
acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16″, 2021

**“Keeping The Peace ”**
acrylic on canvas, 24 x 18″, 2021
In Reilly Collection

“What Does it Mean To Be A Woman”

Sample draft for art film 2021

What Does it Mean to Be A Woman is an art film taken from 30 zoom interviews intended to encourage meaningful conversation that exposes fuller gender representation—providing a platform for perspectives and experiences to shape our collective future.

ARCHIVE OF OLDER WORK

“Within”
*oil on canvas, 48 × 70″, 1990*
In Collection

“I AM Mystery”
*acrylic on linen, 30 x 40″, 20*20
In Daly Collcection

“Never Forget Where You Come From, Always Remember Where You’re Going”
*acrylic on canvas, 48 × 48″, 2016 – Detail*

This painting is part of the West of Lincoln Project. Ruth worked in collaboration with Leonard to capture his painful story that communicates wisdom found in his roots growing up in Venice, CA.

“Not Just Me Anymore”
*acrylic on canvas, 36 × 36″, 2016*

Painted in collaboration with Fernando Manzanilla. The painting reflects a portion of “Fern’s” life story and the wisdom he has as a result of the struggles he faced growing up in Venice, CA. This painting is part of the West of Lincoln Project. The content of this painting came from working closely with Fern for three months, making sure the details reflected his valuable life wisdom.

“Where Do We Go From Here”

acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48″, 2018
In the CHIRP Collection

An interpretation of a photo from 1967: Shelly Covert being held by Grandpa Ralph, her mother Ginger (Virginia) Lee Rose-Covert and her father. ‘Nisem humwa’a’ is Nisenan for > my family is from my heart or, my heart is drawn to my family (exact translation is difficult).

Completed with permission from the Covert family, this painting expresses the significance of indigenous people to a their community. How the American dream has played a roll in their development as a tribe externally and internally. This painting is a gift to the Covert family.