Artist Amanda Ruck graduated from the Canberra School of Art in 1988 with a Bachelor of Art, Visual, in printmaking and painting. Not long after graduating, she moved to Melbourne, and when landscapes, and particularly clouds, became a major focus Amanda seized an opportunity and moved to Healesville, in the beautiful Yarra Valley in 1998.
Since 2007, Amanda began painting in acrylic on canvas, creating atmospheric landscapes with sweeping skies and recently she has chosen to work on round wooden panels, using clouds at night to depict the weather patterns of her heart.
The constantly busy and talented Ruck was exhibition coordinator of The Yering Station Art Gallery Victoria, Australia, from 2005-2008 and also co-coordinated the Yering Station Sculpture Exhibition & Awards. On top of her 17 prior solo exhibitions, Ruck has been included in over 20 group exhibitions in Melbourne and the Yarra Valley.
Amanda was an artist in residence at Montsalvat in Victoria, Australia, for February 2012. Montsalvat is Australia’s oldest continuously active artists’ community; a place where art in all its forms is made and taught, and art’s transformative power is celebrated in exhibitions, festivals, concerts, workshops, and artists’ residencies.
“I have spent many years looking up at the sky, tilting my head, squinting into the sun, working out how light and colour define clouds. This tilting motion gives me a sense of freedom and peace, with the knowledge that these are the same clouds everyone looks at... giggling in search of rabbits, scary giants or massive galleons, or looking into the sunset and taking stock at the end of the day.
I use cloudy weather patterns as a vehicle for emotion. At the base of some paintings, there is a slither of landscape for scale, and they often include a pathway and trees to suggest an intimate story. These dark broody landscapes provide a ballast for a window of light, allowing the viewer to contemplate where the path leads, or what is over the horizon.
The local surrounds of the Yarra Valley are part of my inspiration. I recently worked on a series of paintings fierce with Prussian blue, Paynes grey and Midnight black. These works hint at a light known as the ‘magic hour’. I invite viewers into these crepuscular landscapes where night is either leaving the day or descending. Trees become individuals witnessing the sky in the gloaming.”
Recent Solo Exhibitions
2024 We are Made of Stars, Louis Joel Arts and Community Centre, Altona, Vic.
2023 New Work, Tokar Estate Winery, Coldstream, Victoria
Youth Art Awards, Represented as an established Artist, YAVA, Healesville, Vic
2022 The Universe Within, YAVA, Healesville, Vic
INterior, Small Sculpture Exhibition, YAVA, Healesville, Vic
2018 Reflection, MiRA, Marysville Regional Art, Marysville, Vic.
The Secrets Shadows Keep, Yering Station Art Gallery, Yering, Vic.
2016 Near Dark, Alchemy, Maroondah HWY, Healesville, Vic.
One, Punt Road Cellar Door, Punt Road Winery, Coldstream, Vic.
2015 Magic hour, MEMO Gallery, Healesville, Vic.
2014 The interdimensional portal of my heart, Yering Station Art Gallery, Yering, Vic.
Recent Group Exhibitions
2024 Respond, YAVA, Maroondah HWY, Healesville
2021 EMERGE, MEMO Gallery, Maroondah HWY Healesville
Inside Out, YAVA, Maroondah HWY, Healesville
2021 Queenscliff Art Prize, Queenscliff Pier, Vic.
2020 Eyes, YAVA, Maroondah HWY, Healesville, Vic.
2019 YAVA Members Group Exhibition, Maroondah HWY, Healesville, Vic.
2018 Weather Patterns of my Heart, BOAA,
Biennale of Australian Art, Ballarat, Vic.
SMALL 45 Downstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melb, Vic.
The Art of Speech, MEMO Gallery, Healesville, Vic.
The Art Fair, Tarrawarra Museum of Art, Vic.
2017 Open Studios Exhibition, Memo, Healesville, Vic.
2016 Open Studios Exhibition, Memo, Healesville, Vic.
2015 St Michael’s 2015 Art Competition, Collins St, Melbourne, Vic.
HelmArt, Coombe Gallery, Melba Estate, Coldstream, Vic.
Education
1984-1988 Bachelor of Art, Visual, Printmaking, Canberra School of Art, A.C.T.
Residencies:
2014 Painted life-size fibreglass cow over 3 days,
Yarra Valley Dairy, Yering, Vic. Purchased and on display at The Yarra Valley Dairy.
2012 February artist in residence at Montsalvat, Eltham,
Vic.