Barbara Ruhdorfer

My name is Barbara Ruhdorfer. I was born in Regen, Bavaria (Germany) and live in Aotearoa since 1996. As a student of fine art with a Fine Arts Degree from University Regensburg, I explored different media, worked on sculptures, pottery, drawings, figurative, sand and abstract paintings. 

 

When I first came to New Zealand from Germany, to work as a full time artist, I was greatly impressed and inspired by the rugged but beautiful landscape. Shaped by seismic and volcanic activity, and the eroding forces of wind and water, I loved to represent the landscape I saw.
 
Increasingly I have become interested in the effect of erosion on stretches of rock, tree trunks, and mud flats. The patterned reliefs, structures and monochrome colours I found, though essentially natural, have steered me towards an exploration of abstract compositions.
 
While a lot of my art still is reminiscent of the natural phenomena described, I have now entered a phase where I want to find abstracted ways of expressing more of my own inner landscape.
If abstraction means a ‘taking away’ of something, in this case the realistic depiction of landscape, whether seen from a distance or with close up detail, something else needs to be added.
 
What I am exploring now are pictorial ways to let the mind rest. To blot out all the outer distractions of our busy lives, if only for a while. We can turn to nature to find stillness of mind, and relaxation. Or we can look at a piece of artwork that embodies balance in form and colour, and let it unfold its subconscious effects.