Ruth E. Rollason
An Artist Statement
Adopting various methods, choice of materials and mediums, I seek to visually express an alternative mien to the Roman alphabet in which the symbols are easily recognised and interpreted.
I attempt to echo the conflict between what I think or say, to what I see written down. I don’t want people to know what I am thinking but I have the urge to ‘write’ in a concrete poetical style and then hide my ‘poem’ by obfuscating and applying palimpsestual essences of the letter shapes I have created.
I am inspired by this anomaly of conjoining text and thought. I create a cacophony derived from letter shapes and using a handwriting rhythm, I consider the process of thought whilst ‘writing’, pushing illegible ambiguity with the purpose and intention to create a tension of complex meaning using a mere 26 simple shapes.
Ruth E Rollason devoted thirty years in London to a career in graphic design after obtaining a BA (Hons) in Information Design. Her passion and fascination with typography and lettering encouraged her to work with various publishing houses including Haymarket and Emap. Rollason also created and produced art catalogues and promotional books for the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths’ and Lingard Architects. In 1998 she founded her own design practice creating commercial design solutions in the UK and the US.
Rollason’s relocation from London to Ramsgate, Kent in 2008 proved pivotal in her creative career. For the first time, Rollason began to explore her own personal oeuvre. It was in Ramsgate that she held her first solo exhibition, displaying a plethora of media, photography, ceramics, drawings, and calligraphy. Rollason’s passion for letter shapes and the handwritten word led her to complete an MA (Dist) Fine Art, at the University for the Creative Arts, Canterbury, where she was also awarded Artist in Residence. She has since had several public art commissions, art exhibitions and collaborations .
Rollason’s work has been published in the US and included in several private and public collections. She continues to develop her practice in Ramsgate, Kent.
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Ruth E. Rollason, Source, 2020£ 600.00 -
Ruth E. Rollason, Source, 2020£ 160.00
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Ruth E. Rollason, BCE i, 2018£ 160.00
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Ruth E. Rollason, BCE ii, 2018£ 120.00
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Ruth E. Rollason, BCE iii, 2018£ 120.00
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Ruth E. Rollason, Impress, 2018£ 120.00
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Ruth E. Rollason, Inculate, 2018£ 160.00
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Ruth E. Rollason, Preamble, 2018£ 120.00
Group Exhibitions
2020
Winter Salon - Laurent Delaye Gallery, Ramsgate Out of Isolation - Galleries Kent, Canterbury Island off an island - Ramsgate Festival of Sound
2019
Siren of the Downs - Ramsgate Festival of Sound
Voyaging - Meridian 5.41, Ramsgate
Actants - The Beaney, Canterbury
10 - Lombard Street Gallery, Margate
2018
Tide Sine - Ramsgate Festival of Sound
Exit to Leopole Street - Folkestone
Of The River and Other Stories - Powerful Tides: 400 Years of Chatham and the Sea, - The Historic Dockyard, Chatham
The Anxiety of Time - Strange Cargo, Folkestone
Succumbing Transience - Pie Factory, Margate
Different Voices - Crate and Turner Contemporary, Margate Journeys with ‘The Waste Land’ - Turner Contemporary, Margate Impronta Print Fair - Folkestone
2017
Littoral Light II - The Beach, Ramsgate
Voices - Beach Creative, Herne Bay
24 Hour Film Challenge - Strange Love Festival, Folkestone
Secret Auction - The Acland Burghley School Trust, London
2016
Middle Six - Brewery Tap, Folkestone
Littoral Light 1 - The Beach, Ramsgate
All Earthly Existence - Whitstable Biennale Satellite
Secret Auction - The Acland Burghley School Trust, London
2014
Open Call - Updown Gallery, Ramsgate
Monkey House Gallery - Ramsgate
Solo Exhibitions
2019 The Shroud - Meridian 5.41, Ramsgate
2016 East Kent Open Studios, Ramsgate
Thanet Open Studios, Ramsgate
2015 East Kent Open Studios, Ramsgate Thanet Open Studios, Ramsgate York Street Gallery, Ramsgate
Run Workshops
2020 Calligraphy Workshops
Thanet
2019 Book Making Workshop
The Beaney, Canterbury
2019 Calligraphy Workshops
Thanet
2018 Letter Print WorkshopTurner Contemporary, Margate
2017 MA Fine Art Lecture
UCA Canterbury
2016 Marbelling Workshops
Thanet
Contributor Workshops
2019 Arts Emergency
Mentoring Scheme
Margate
Lithography Workshop DBA Editions
Ramsgate
Natural Dye Print Workshop
Kent Cloth, Kent
2018 Making Paper
Kent Cloth, Kent
Creative Ecologies: Strengthening communities through the arts
Turner Contemporary, Margate
2017 Creating Cyanotypes The Dark Room, Margate
