Weaving is almost too easy a metaphor for Ruth Shteinman’s personal ethos, in which the pleasures of language, food and art intertwine, always with relation to nature. Ruth’s art career began in two dimensions, with drawing and collage; then she began adding clay and weaving, forming a repertoire which now combines techniques of basketry, tapestry, macramé and ceramics. She has always loved to extend herself through study, acquiring new languages and craft techniques that dovetail with her wide-ranging curiosity and adventurous travels.

In her rooftop studio among the treetops of her palm garden she works at translating material at hand into objects. Undistracted by debates about idiom, category or supposed distinctions between craft and art she is comfortable with a client’s casual description of her work - “utilitarian expressionism.”