Maja Ruznic

TRUE BELIEVERS

2018
oil on canvas
60 x 48 x 2 inches

The figures in this work are festive and look as if they have returned from some unknown ritual.  The celebrations they take part in are to shake their bones and bring out stories hiding in them.  I think of their limbs as shareable — one arm belongs to two or three bodies and two sets of feet carry them all. – Maja Ruznic

The saturated color palette and all-over patterning of Maja Ruznic’s recent work camouflage her figures within the abstract wilderness they inhabit. In True Believers, her characters are apparitions — the head of an older woman emerges from the upper left portion of the canvas, while other faces and limbs are barely discernible amongst the landscape. Ruznic paints with soft brushes in layers, coaxing splotches of paint into imagery. Born in Bosnia, Ruznic currently lives in the Bay Area.