Artist Spotlight: Eleanor Diaz Ritson

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9 Feb

Written By The Art Paper

Eleanor Diaz Ritson, *GANNETS: These Bodies of Rock and Earth*, 2021, water-mixable oil on canvas, 145 x 165 cm. Courtesy of the artist

“My painting and writing practices are spurred by mineral vitality and the slow-moving under-places, where there’s time for introspection, there is space to shift and grow; there is connectedness and dissonance, tension and solace, vulnerability and strength.”

— Eleanor Diaz Ritson, in conversation with The Art Paper

Eleanor Diaz Ritson, *Mottled Gullies*, 2021, water-mixable oil on canvas, 20 x 20 cm. Courtesy of the artist

Eleanor Diaz Ritson, *Hills (one and two)*, 2021, water-mixable oil on cottons, 75 x 65 cm. Courtesy of the artist

“Under the earth, passages of time are imbued within stacked sediments and calcified organisms. When we descend from the surface and into the deep-time strata, our usual perceptions are disrupted. In these slow spaces, the seemingly inert awakens.”

— Eleanor Diaz Ritson, in conversation with The Art Paper

Eleanor Diaz Ritson, *Slumber/Wind-Whipped Shale*, 2021, water-mixable oil on unstretched canvas, 120 x 80 cm. Courtesy of the artist

Eleanor Diaz Ritson, *BROTHERS: These Bodies of Rock and Earth* (detail), 2021, water-mixable oil on canvas, 150 x 150 cm. Courtesy of the artist

Eleanor Diaz Ritson graduated from Toi Ruawhārangi College of Creative Arts Massey University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hon) in 2021 and commences further study (Master of Fine Arts) in 2022. She has participated in two Massey University exhibitions, Undescried (2020) and Exposure Graduate Exhibition (2021), in addition to a group show at Ngaio Anglican Church All Saints, O (2021). Her written work My Body of Skeletons featured in the limited-edition collaborative publication, Omelette (2021).

Diaz Ritson is the Enjoy Contemporary Art Space and Rita Angus Cottage Summer Resident (2022), and will present an exhibition at Enjoy in late 2022.

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The Art Paper

Artist Spotlight: Eleanor Diaz Ritson

“My painting and writing practices are spurred by mineral vitality and the slow-moving under-places, where there’s time for introspection, there is space to shift and grow; there is connectedness and dissonance, tension and solace, vulnerability and strength.”

— Eleanor Diaz Ritson, in conversation with The Art Paper

“Under the earth, passages of time are imbued within stacked sediments and calcified organisms. When we descend from the surface and into the deep-time strata, our usual perceptions are disrupted. In these slow spaces, the seemingly inert awakens.”

— Eleanor Diaz Ritson, in conversation with The Art Paper

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