Masha Ryskin

A sense of place and belonging is increasingly important to me, especially since my immigration from the Soviet Union. As a result, my work explores landscape and its elements through direct experience of the environment around me. I take bits and pieces of my surroundings and assemble them into imaginary environments. The work investigates the concepts of history, personal memories and everyday rituals, as well as physical and metaphorical layering. In today’s world, our surroundings are shaped by humankind as much as by natural elements. I am interested in human interaction with nature as exemplified by traces of human presence left in the landscape. My works direct attention to cracks, stains, and other overlooked elements that speak of the temporal quality of the human experience and of the many ways we affect our surroundings. I often incorporate mundane materials such as tea bags, tea and coffee, dirt, and tissue paper. These serve as records of our daily activities, gatherings, and interactions. The layering of fragments that make up the work alludes to the complexity and the constant movement of the landscape as well as of the people inhabiting it.

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