Ruth Tyszka

Artist statement

The expansiveness and waves of Michigan’s Great Lakes were imprinted on me as a child. As an adult I reconnected to this affinity for big water and it drives the creation of my mosaic glass waves. My art is a result of the comfort I take from water and nature, and reflects my reverence and concern for the environment. Glass and water share many visual characteristics. I hand cut, facet and layer glass materials to enhance texture, depth, reflection and iridescence. The mosaic medium allows me to focus on the details of each wave and it becomes my portrait of water as a companion, rather than an element of landscape. The waves also allow me to explore what is in the water and below the surface, so some waves include repurposed plastic, acknowledging the pervasiveness of plastic in our environment.

Through my art practice I am also motivated to bring people together and to share opportunities with others. Over the past few years, I have put together small group shows with other artists, curated a gallery show with over 20 artists, and organized and moderated a panel discussion about mosaic art in connection with the 2024 Mosaic Arts International exhibition. These events reinforce my belief that we are stronger together, as are the connections and dialogues that happen between artworks, artists and viewers when they are brought into a shared space.  

Biography

Ruth Tyszka has been in the arts for most of her life. She was a professional musician for ten years before pursuing a law degree and has studied photography, stained glass, mosaic (in the United States and Italy) and design. It was while working as a lawyer that she was driven on the weekends and evenings to work with her hands and imagination to build and create.

Tyszka’s artwork has appeared in the highly competitive Mosaic Arts International juried exhibition and was awarded in the recent Ode to Mother Earth exhibition juried by the Wyland Foundation, the Hawaii Waves Exhibition by Artfarm.productions and the 2012 Michigan Fine Arts Competition. Her mosaic artwork appears in multiple publications including in and on the cover of Schiffer Publishing’s Mosaic Art Today, in Edible Bits And Pleasing Pieces cookbook, and in Guide To Mosaic Techniques. Tyszka is a graduate of the Musicians Institute (Guitar Institute of Technology), Oakland University, and Wayne State University Law School. She is the past Governance Chair on the Board of Trustees of the Society Of American Mosaic Artists. She has traveled all over the world to study ancient and modern mosaics and her own work has appeared in galleries and juried art shows in and around the United States and as far away as a mosaic floor in Botswana.

Contact Ruth here

Follow Ruth on Instagram @truthinart