Signature Lecture: Artist Rebecca Rutstein and UGA Marine Scientist Samantha Joye

Rebecca Rutstein, an artist whose work spans painting, sculpture, installation, and public art and explores abstraction inspired by science, data and maps, will visit the University of Georgia as the third Delta Visiting Chair for Global Understanding.

Rutstein will visit UGA twice during the upcoming academic year: in November as part of the national conference of the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru), and again in March. During each of her visits, Rutstein will give public presentations with the widely known oceanographer Samantha Joye, Athletic Association Professor in Arts and Sciences in the department of marine sciences at UGA.

The Nov. 2 event during the a2ru conference will examine research intersections of art and science in a conversation moderated by Nicholas Allen, Franklin Professor of English and director of the Willson Center. William Eiland, director of the Georgia Museum of Art, will give an introduction.

The Nov. 2 event during the a2ru conference will examine research intersections of art and science in a conversation moderated by Nicholas Allen, Franklin Professor of English and director of the Willson Center. William Eiland, director of the Georgia Museum of Art, will give an introduction.

Between the two visits, Rutstein and Joye will embark on an expedition to Mexico’s Guaymas Basin in the Sea of Cortez that includes a deep sea dive aboard Alvin, a submersible vessel able to withstand the crushing pressure of the extremes of the deep ocean. While scientists explore hydrothermal vents and carbon cycling processes in the basin, Rutstein will set up her studio on the ship and create new works inspired by the data being collected in real time.

Rutstein will create a 64-foot-long interactive sculptural installation with laser cut steel and LED lights, and a monumental four-part painting installation at the Georgia Museum of Art to be featured during the a2ru conference. She will also exhibit a mural-sized banner at the Lamar Dodd School of Art. The sculpture, with its hexagonal forms and reactive lighting, and the shapes present in the paintings were inspired by the hydrocarbon structures and bioluminescence present in Guaymas Basin.

In the process of creating works inspired by geology, microbiology and marine science, Rutstein has previously collaborated with scientists aboard research vessels sailing from the Galápagos Islands to California, Vietnam to Guam, and in the waters surrounding Tahiti. Prior to her expedition with Joye, she will make her first descent in Alvin to the ocean floor off of the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica with a team of scientists from Temple University in October 2018.

Rutstein has exhibited widely in museums, institutions and galleries, and has received numerous awards including the prestigious Pew Fellowship in the Arts. She has held more than 25 solo exhibitions at venues across the United States.

Joye’s research examines the complex feedbacks that drive elemental cycling in coastal and open ocean environments, and the effects of climate change and anthropogenic disturbances on critical environmental processes to gain a better understanding of how future changes will affect ecosystem functioning. Her work in deep sea extreme environments explores how microbial processes interact with geological and physical processes.