Kim De Ruysscher

ARTZUID Kunstenaar Kim De Ruysscher

‘The things that seemingly go unnoticed still possess a particular grandeur. I emphasize this by capturing these fleeting elements – a toilet roll, a garbage bag – in ancient natural stone.’

Name: Kim De Ruysscher
Born: Belgium, 1973
ARTZUID edition(s): ARTZUID 2009 

Social Media: Instagram, Facebook

About Kim De Ruysscher

Kim De Ruysscher is a sculptor and installation artist. He studied painting at the Sint Lucas School of Arts and Science in Ghent. He then travelled to Carrara (Italy), where he resided for ten years to develop his skill of stone carving. He then moved to The Hague, where he lived for eight years. Since 2014 he has been residing in Italy. In The Netherlands, he started developing ‘Inside’, the sculpture that was exhibited at ARTZUID.

De Ruysscher makes deceptively real still lifes from marble, limestone and other types of natural stone. Through the use of a chisel he smoothens his sculptures, he has also included diverse textures and fabrics into his work. He makes objects like garbage bags, toilet paper rolls, leaking footballs, bags, paper or Styrofoam from rock-hard marble. He’s created parables of the work of Claes Oldenburg and Jeff Koons. Where they use stainless steel, plaster and plastic, De Ruysscher uses natural stone.

The images Presence (2014), a pair of high heels carved from black marble, and Yellow Balloon (2013), an inflated onyx balloon, are examples of his precise, costly and time-consuming work process. It is in stark contrast to the cheap, often plastic objects they represent and the way we usually take these objects for granted.

His figures are so realistic and perfect that he creates a contrast between the transience of everyday life and the time-consuming execution of his sculptures. The sculptures seem to be the product of calculated perfection and emphasize the banality of everyday life.

De Ruysscher has exhibited in Belgium, the Netherlands (ARTZUID 2009), Germany, Finland, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy and Turkey.

Art at ARTZUID