Whether you know it or not, you have probably seen the art of Ruth Abernethy. Ruth is the sculptor who created the installation of Queen Elizabeth II at Queen's Park, the Glenn Gould sculpture in front of CBC studios, and the Liu Xiaobo piece in Ottawa. Her art, which has been installed coast to coast, has inspired many conversations among many Canadians. (She's also the only non-American to sculpt Abraham Lincoln!)
“Ruth's work and this book give substance to any discussion on what it means to be Canadian. This book offers a glimpse of her unique perspective as an artist, moving from an Ontario farm through the collaborative craftsmanship of mainstream theatre to navigating the rarified worlds of royalty and celebrity.”
—Marilyn Norry
Ruth’s new book In Form: Life and Legacies in Bronze, is due out with FireFly Books on September 21, 2024. We’re honoured to have her join us for this Power Q & A to talk with us about her singular path to international acclaim.
Welcome, Ruth!
In Form: Life and Legacies in Bronze by Ruth Abernethy.
Q: You’ve said you don’t have “formal arts training.” We couldn’t help but wonder if you think your lack formal training is what makes you such a powerful public artist?
A: I propose that my 'lack of formal art training' is effectively offset by a 20-year apprenticeship with the finest stage designers in the world. Designing/building for theatre demands mental flexibility and a refined practice of resolving visual solutions that guide viewers’ imaginations and help 'tell the tale'. I developed a respect for audiences! As a parallel idea, I also admire what's 'real' about theatre. In curiously inverted escapism, the onstage and backstage creative processes are incredibly real, intense, and pragmatic.
The compulsion to create, to work hands-on, and explore materials, is initially satisfying to the maker. The fascinating results become red herrings for non-creators. AI may contrive music or visuals, but it's ME who gets IMMENSE reward from making things, and I suspect a 'bot' DOES NOT!
Artists are Cultural First Responders
Every milestone that humans 'highlight', from a child's birthday to a funeral or a political convention, are heightened by music and visuals with impact. Artists observe and participate in the world but, like a prism, we reassemble elements that exist for everyone. Society has a depth of 'standardization' that's difficult to offload. Focus on the 'products' of artists could lead to presumptions of equivalent skill sets, like other trades/professions. In separating creators from their 'product' they're revealed as problem solvers whose efforts are akin to the work of interesting people in any walk of life. Those who think deeply and carefully about what they do, are interesting people who are predictably effective at whatever tasks they undertake. What problems do we choose to solve?
The word playful is a true compliment! Thank you. Playfulness is a joyful expression of human contact.
Humour is often shared and it rests on common ground, welcomed because it poses no challenge
I learned/used many hand skills as a kid, and I learned to play music, so I had the discipline and persistence to tackle hand work (and hard work).
I was hired at the theatre because I was useful, and a very quick study! It was a place to flourish and I could travel, which was a key hunger at the time.
The variety of skills that theatre/film building demands, provides immense freedom to explore materials/methods and reinvent them as needed.
More about In Form: Life and Legacies in Bronze:
In Form includes the story of 20 sculptures in bronze. Located across Canada, they capture key figures from history, science, art, sports, the labor movement, medicine, royalty, human rights, World War II, business, and politics.
For Ruth Abernethy, the creative process starts with her off-center observations of human nature. She puts her thoughts "in form" as she plans and engineers public installations and studio works against the backdrop of family and the evolving zeitgeist. For this, her second book, Ruth takes you on a road trip across Canada to visit installations and initiate conversations about the role of sculpture in modern public life. In Form is filled with thought-provoking ideas for study and chat in academia, book clubs, seniors, arts, and business groups and for the sheer enjoyment of the stories behind the portraits of:
Lester B. Pearson, prime minister
Margaret Atwood, author
Bob White, labor leader
Isabel Coursier, ski jump champion
Liu Xiaobo, human rights activist
Sir William Stephenson, spymaster
Michael Holcombe Wilson, mental health advocate
HRH Queen Elizabeth II
Dr. Michael Smith, Nobel laureate
Daurene Lewis, the first Black mayor in Canada.
Public artist Ruth Abernethy.
About Ruth Abernethy:
Ruth Abernethy grew up near Lindsay, Ontario. At the age of 20, she was hired as Head of Props at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, MB. At the Stratford Festival (ON), where Ruth began work in 1981, she refined her method of 3D mapping. The success of her first bronze prompted the invitation to sculpt renowned pianist Glenn Gould, which began a definitive career change. The National Portrait Gallery acquired Ruth’s portrait bust of Al Waxman (2003) and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II unveiled Ruth’s portrait of Oscar Peterson at the National Arts Centre (2010). She was the first Canadian artist to exhibit with Sculpture in Context, Dublin, Ireland (2007), and Sculpture-by-the-Sea, Sydney, Australia (2004).
For this, she was awarded a bursary from the Canadian Consulate in Sydney and was invited for a return to the Casuarina Sculpture Walk, Australia (2006). Ruth was the only Canadian artist short-listed for the Beijing Olympic Sculpture contest (2008). In addition to bronze and portraiture, Ruth’s studio works combine textiles, hand-made lace and stainless steel. Ruth began her own Canadiana Collection in 2005, seeking a broader narrative for social history. Pieces from this collection were selected for The Canadiana State Collection (Ottawa, ON), exhibited with Crossing Borders (Lockport, NY, 2005), and acquired by the Royal Ontario Museum (5 pieces, Toronto, ON, 2009).
Her bronzes have been commissioned for sites across Canada and she is the only Canadian artist to have sculpted Abe Lincoln for a public site in the United States. Ruth portrayed Queen Elizabeth II, 150% enlarged, for Queen's Park, Toronto (2023). Ruth authored Life and Bronze, A Sculptor’s Journal (2016). She was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree from Wilfrid Laurier University (2018), and inducted into the Waterloo Region Museum Hall of Fame (2019). She sculpted Margaret Atwood, a patron of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, and was made an Honourary Fellow of the Society, awarded the Louie Kamookak Metal (2023). Ruth continues to sculpt ideas that prompt dialogue, invite compassionate scrutiny of human experience and that hold a hint of humour!