AMY RUSCH
b. 1990, South AfricaAmy Rusch (b. 1990) is a Cape Town-based multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans diverse mediums. Her work explores a vibrational expression of mark-making through stitched threads on layers of found plastic bags. The layering of plastic, shaped by the motion and soundscape of the stitching process, reflects both the aural and material aspects of contemporary culture. The threads serve as an attempt to connect and comprehend the vastness of stratigraphic time, stretching across millions of years.
Rusch’s current body of work is informed by ocean crossings, archaeological excavations, and microscopic studies of the living world. Her practice acts as tracings, translations, or mappings of sensory, lived experiences, forming multisensory fusions of sound, vibration, line, and colour. As she describes: ‘Cutting, stitching, heating, pulling, binding, gathering, layering— these practices demand their own rhythm, alternating between slow, meticulous processes and quick, intuitive interventions. The motions enacted in making provide a retrospective link to embodied experiences, transmuted in the process. The machine stitching into plastic is not about replicating an experience or object, but about sitting with the remnants of man-made materials—human time contrasted with elemental and deep time.’
Rusch has exhibited widely, including as a finalist in the Norval Sovereign African Art Prize 2023 at the Norval Foundation. Her work has been showcased at the Pretoria Art Museum, Iziko South African National Gallery, and Zeitz MOCAA. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions, and notable solo exhibitions include Seeing with a Listening Ear (2022) at SMAC Gallery, the culmination of three years of work.
Rusch holds a qualification in Motion Picture Production Design from CityVarsity, School of Media and Creative Arts (2009–2011). Her training in sculpting, moulding, casting, prosthetics, and special effects has equipped her to work not only in film and theatre, but further in freelance projects across disciplines. Notable projects include creating museum display replicas of artifacts from archaeological sites Blombos Cave, Klipdrift Shelter, and Klasies River Mouth, which were featured in the ‘Origins of Early Southern Sapiens Behaviour’ exhibition at Spier, the Iziko South African Museum, the Wits Origins Centre in Johannesburg, and the University of Bergen in Norway.
Rusch’s work is held by public collections including the IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town among other notable private collections.
Courtesy THK Gallery, Cape Town/Cologne.
Works at THK Gallery
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