Benicia native delves into printmaking, sculpture
By Bethany A. Monk
Assistant Editor
When Benicia resident John Ruszel was a college student, he went to the Goodwill with an open mind and $10 on a quest for something quirky.
The quest was part of an assignment for an art class. Ten bucks was the limit. When Ruszel left the store, he was carrying an “ugly, ’70s-brown” Smith Corona typewriter — and he knew he and the ancient machine were a match made in vintage heaven. Ruszel took the old typewriter home, tore it apart and created a sculpture of “two steel rods with typewriter pieces” protruding from them.
Fast-forward a couple years, and Ruszel, 23 and a graduate of Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts, is still tearing apart typewriters and bringing out the artistic qualities usually resting, clandestine, in the old, unused machines.
Instead of creating sculptures, though, he’s “taking that idea and flattening it.” Ruszel takes components of the typewriters — “I enjoy playing with the pieces,” he said — inks them up and and runs them through a printmaking machine. What he eventually creates are paintings of intricate patterns in striking blacks, reds, blues and greens.
“It’s a great kind of puzzle,” he said.
A series of Ruszel’s typewrite-pattern artwork is on display at the Rellik Tavern in downtown Benicia. Arts Benicia, which held a reception at the Rellik last month for the artist, is showcasing the series at the tavern through March 15.
Ruszel said he’s thrilled about his first reception and exhibition. The reception drew a lot of people, he said — adding, with a smile, that “many of them were my family.”
The Benicia native graduated from Benicia High School in 2005, then headed off to Cornish to pursue a degree in both sculpture and printmaking. From October through December 2009, he completed an artist residence program at the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, where he worked on his series currently on display.
His new project has him returning to sculpture. “I like doing large installation work,” he said. The new sculptures, he said, are fabric-based and deal with “weight and tension and the physical elements of materials.” He eventually wants to design and build furniture from found materials because “I like to reuse materials.”
Ruszel also likes to work with his hands and keep busy. He describes himself as not solely an artist but a “maker of things.”
Though it’s not easy being a maker of things, Ruszel said, he’s dedicated to his craft.
“It’s exciting and daunting to figure out how to focus on art and not go broke,” he said, and it helps to have Arts Benicia on his side helping him showcase his work.
“It’s great to have them backing it — they’re a great support,” he said.
See It
John Ruszel’s artwork is on display at the Rellik Tavern, 726 First St., through March 15. See more at http://johnruszel.com/home.
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