Artist Statement

Using water as a material takes something simple and well known to be used in a number of curious ways. Experimenting with water has enabled a playful process for me as it has a life of its own. My motivation is to push the audience to view something in a different way to how they first imagined.

Drawing was an emphasis for me at a point where I wanted to push the boundaries. I used my body with water to create visual videos on a 2d screen that I edited into “video-drawings”. Using these I started bringing my work into a 3d space through installation using projection. I want to play with perception through light and reflection so have been replicating the visual effects of water through other materials such as fabric and embellishments.

The idea that water is a being in its own right has become more interesting to me as my work has progressed. Since water is hard to control, there is a constant push and pull between us in my experimentation. I am now more recently working in collaboration with water using sound.

Artist Biography

Ruby Jean Waterhouse was born in Headingley, Leeds in 2000. She is a multimedia artist, using video, performance, photography, drawing, installation, textiles, sculpture and sound. Studying Art at A-Level, Waterhouse painted figuratively and abstractly. In 2019, however, she joined the Art Foundation course at Leeds Arts University where she experimented with performance and video work surrounding the idea of the body’s interaction with materials – trying to push the boundaries of drawing through untraditional ways of working. Waterhouse started studying BFA Fine Art at the Slade School of Fine Art in 2020 where she originally wanted to explore performance further. Because of limited access to the studio due to Covid-19, she was drawn more to video rather than performance. Using materials such as a 10 metre roll of elastic, she interacted, creating shapes and changing the form of the materials and her body. Filming these interactions, and editing the videos to emphasise the shapes made, the idea of “video-drawing” was born.

At the end of her first term, Waterhouse was encouraged to return home to Leeds to study since the Covid-19 virus was still spreading. Taking regular walks in the Yorkshire landscape, she became increasingly interested in streams, rivers and the rain. Becoming excited by the water, Waterhouse decided this would be her next material to interact with. She continued to make “video-drawings” using the water but also started bringing these 2D videos into a 3D space through projection. Fabric was introduced as a material to work alongside the water: “me and the water dance together and the fabric is the water’s costume”.

Starting second year in September 2021, Waterhouse became attracted to the making of more tangible work since she now had full access to the studios. She used fabric, print and embellishments to replicate the fabric and water. Creating a layered installation piece using projection and fabric, Waterhouse was part of the FISHTANK exhibition in January 2022 with some fellow classmates. This exhibition enabled her to become more involved with installation in her practice: exploring fabric and lighting further. Waterhouse is now playing with the concept of collaboration between her and water and exploring their relationship through sound, video, photography, performance and sculpture.