Maja Ruznic (born 1983)[1] is a Bosnian-born American painter, whose painting practice fuses abstraction and figuration. Her practice is informed by her own experiences of the Bosnian War as well as Slavic folklore, shamanism, Jungian psychoanalysis, and the concepts related to sacred geometry.
Maja Ruznic | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1983 |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley (B.F.A.), California College of the Arts (M.F.A.) |
| Website | https://www.majaruznic.com/ |
Life and work
editBorn in the former Yugoslavia in 1983, the artist relocated to the United States in 1995 in the wake of the Bosnian War.[1] Between 1992 and 1995, Ruznic and her family moved between several refugee camps before finally settling in San Francisco.[2] She earned her B.F.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in 2005, and later an M.F.A. from the California College of the Arts in 2009.[3] Ruznic's work as a painter is influenced by her memories of the Bosnian conflict, a passion for documenting personal narratives, and interests in Jungian psychoanalysis, mythology, and the esoteric, particularly in reference to Slavic folklore and shamanism, as well as sacred geometry.[1][3]
Ruznic concentrates on portraying memories, myths, and traumas from the past through both large-scale oil paintings created with thin washes of paint and smaller gouache works.[4] Ruznic's visual vocabulary blends figuration with abstraction, adopting a style that loosely aligns with Surrealist traditions.[3] Her work has been interpreted as having roots in both Symbolist tendencies and Magic Realism tradition in Europe.[5][6]
Her work is included in permanent collections of several American museums, including the Portland Art Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art among others.[3][7] Ruznic lives and works in New Mexico. She was among the seventy-one artists selected to participate in the 2024 edition of the Whitney Biennial.[8]
References
edit- ^ a b c Bourbon, Matthew (2020-07-01). "Maja Ruznic". Artforum. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
- ^ Gu, Qianfan (Summer 2022). "Personal Church". Blau International.
- ^ a b c d "Maja Ruznic". Karma Gallery. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
- ^ Ruznic, Maja; Ross, Claudia (6 November 2023). "On making the time to create". The Creative Independent. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
- ^ Godfrey Larmon, Annie (2021). "Who Speaks Shadows". Maja Ruznic: In the Sliver of the Sun. Taos, NM: Harwood Museum of Art. ISBN 978-1949172591.
- ^ Soboleva, Ksenia (2020-03-03). "The Moon Seemed Lost". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
- ^ "Mother (Green Hand)". SFMOMA. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
- ^ De Vore, Alex (2024-01-25). "Four New Mexico artists selected for Whitney Biennial". Santa Fe Reporter. Retrieved 2024-01-30.