wrapping and winding.

I recently saw a piece of artist Briena Ruais on an exhibitions website and was very intrigued by her technique of wrapping. So I looked a little bit further and was even more intrigued. Her individual pieces tend to have many elements, an eclectic mix of materials, and a strong sense of form.


I do not get a sense of cohesiveness as I look through her portfolio- but see many very interesting threads running through and connecting piece to piece. I feel like she is at the beginning of a career that could be something quite wonderful and very unique.


She states:
Working with embroidery, drawing, sculpture and found objects, I compose both floor and wall based installations that evoke environments and shrines. I use the aesthetics of spiritual practices in Shamanistic cultures to root the pieces in nature. The inherently labored, hand-made quality of embroidery, carved wood, and altered objects, and their arrangement with items from nature, stirs ideas of the sacred and ritualistic. For me, embroidery is a personal meditation on the parts of the whole, the pieces that make up a story, and an investigation into a historical craft of storytelling.
The subjects in my work are sometimes absent. The places that are left behind convey the feeling of a human’s touch and an intimacy with the person who assembled it. Closeness with an unseen person’s surroundings, perhaps involving an embroidered pool of blood, causes the viewer to guess at its origins and secrets.


I particularly like her referencing of shamanism and ritual and very much see that as I look at her work. I love her use of the act of wrapping and find it quite beautiful mixed with the formal qualities of her work.
See more.