Springfield, Missouri
 

 

 

 
Artist Statement
As long as I can remember, I’ve drawn cartoons. These as have appeared as illustrations, cards, posters, and animations, but none of these mediums are so satisfying as handcrafting an object of art. Perhaps it was this desire to return to handwork that pushed me to combine my drawings and other diverse influences with fabric.

The surprise for me was that working with fabric is not just a matter of copying symbols and shapes into another medium. Each fabric I use has its own personality, and the raw scissor-cut edges have a spontaneous energy that remind me of the imperfections of the hand-drawn line.

The quilted line creates three-dimensional texture and structure and at the same time, communicates two-dimensional information in the form of symbolic or decorative motifs. Quilting is a meditative process, and I think of the stitched line as a thread of thought wandering over the surface of each piece. As I sew, my mind holds images to guide my hands and needle—images of grass, wind, water, leaves, kneecaps, noses….

I try to orchestrate these elements into a story, and when I’m alone in my studio, I sometimes find myself laughing out loud. I’ve always believed humor and creativity are linked; maybe both are the the ability to step outside ourselves and see things from unexpected viewpoints.

The woman in this series first appeared in my drawings during a period in my life when I felt a stranger in my own body. She fully evolved in PaMdora’s Box, a contemporary interpretation of the laptop as the mythical box that opened to release great knowledge and power, but also frustration and problems into the world.

Since then PaMdora has become symbolic of how I see the world — a jumbled mess of good, bad, joy, irritations, beauty, and humor. The stories are not really about PaMdora, although she’s large in her own mind. They are more about how she watches the crazy world around her with a strange mixture of astonishment, dismay, and amusement.

My everyday life is usually the seed for one of these stories – something big like worrying about global warming or something small like being late for a date. Although I embellish for entertainment and to sometimes fantastic ends, elements of each of these stories are real to me, and I find, to many people. I enjoy sharing these connections, no matter how small. It’s a way to bring us a little closer together, and if I also happen to make you smile or laugh, that’s even better.

 
Biography

Pam RuBert was born in St. Louis, Missouri. After graduating with a B.A. in English Communications and minor in art, she met her future husband Russ RuBert while auditing a sculpture class. They were married on a cliff overlooking TableRock Lake in the Ozarks, and after exchanging wedding vows, plunged together into the lake and into a life of art.

Together they renovated an old 22,0000 square foot peanut butter factory into an art studio where nowadays they spend most of their time. In the center of this “art factory” is Pam’s studio – a long room where she creates art using fabric, sewing machines, buttons and other found objects, dyes and paints. When not working at the studio, Pam and Russ are often traveling to look at art and visit other artists. You can read about their art adventures on Pam’s art blog.

 
Artist website: pamrubert.com
Blog: pamdora.com/blog