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ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: JOHANNA BARUCH

JOHANNA BARUCH, Himma, 2020, Oil and alkyd on aluminum, 46 x 46 inches, courtesy of the artist.

Artist Johanna Baruch’s current art practice is to paint the cosmos. She looks at the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope images for inspiration. Her paintings are not literal representations but interpretations, the way the image and the science behind the image feel as they take shape within her, always moving, layering, and growing into patterns. She builds up thin layers of glazes to create her large-format luminous paintings that draw us out into the vastness and majesty of the universe.

Trained in dance and classical painting techniques and steeped in Jungian philosophy, Baruch intermixes all her passions to bring the vast cosmos/universe into focus and remind us of the great forces that bind us all together. Jungian philosophy and mysticism hold that we are all interconnected. The title of her current exhibition, As Above, So Below on view through March 31), is a phrase used by ancient and medieval alchemists: a belief that what happens in the celestial realms is echoed in the earthly realms, and what happens in a larger sense also occurs on the micro level.

Baruch splits her time between San Francisco and Inverness, painting in a light-filled studio overlooking Tomales Bay. She has exhibited nationally in galleries and museums, and her work is in private and corporate collections.

Inset: Johanna Baruch.

What have you been reading, listening to, or cooking lately?

I’m reading Jung and Alchemy, edited by Nathan Schwarz-Salent. The ancient alchemists understood that matter and spirit are connected. They attempted to take basic matter, and by applying elemental processes, it would finally emerge transformed. Jung recognized that this was a metaphor for the human soul, going through our stages of psychological maturity to become a fuller person. I feel the act of painting, taking matter, and through the act of creating can generate something transformative.

Why is living with art in our homes important for our daily lives?

Art is a portal to our inner lives, and because of its profound effects on us, it can act as a bridge to our outer lives. Why are we drawn to certain artworks? They resonate with something unique and connect us to what is greater, to each other, and all of nature. Whether it is an image of a person, a landscape, or an abstract, we see more than its representation. We can feel a sense of belonging in our lives while also transcending into the boundless.

What is one of the lessons you’ve learned from life or your art practice?

I was brought up in New York City and had only brief contact with nature. But I discovered through these encounters that nature was where I felt at home. When I moved to California, I had immediate access to nature. It became my primary teacher, not just through its perfection of form, grace, and color but also in helping me understand that we—animate and inanimate, from this earth to the cosmos—are part of some great unfolding universal story so mysterious yet something we know intimately.

What do you draw strength and reassurance from?

Beauty, mystery, and the heartfelt moving of the spirit. When I see the images of the cosmos, I feel this is my home. I dive into the astonishing mystery of something beyond our comprehension, yet also know that everything on this planet, including our bodies, is made of ancient stardust. This is an all-encompassing beauty that is my innate language, an ongoing creativity that touches my heart in its depths and compels me to express it.

 

JOHANNA BARUCH, Illud Tempus, 2016, Oil and alkyd on aluminum, 48 x 48 inches, courtesy of the artist.

JOHANNA BARUCH, Nammu, 2023, Oil, alkyd, and iridescent pigment on aluminum, 72 x 48 inches, courtesy of the artist.

JOHANNA BARUCH, Panta Rhei, 2018, Oil and alkyd on aluminum, 36 x 24 inches, courtesy of the artist.

JOHANNA BARUCH,Wisdom and Innocence, 2005, Oil and alkyd on panel 18 x 24 inches, (19 ¾ x 25 ¾ inches framed), courtesy of the artist.

Johanna Baruch in her Inverness studio.

IN THE GALLERIES

ON VIEW THROUGH MARCH 31

JOHANNA BARUCH, Aeons (detail), 2023, Oil on aluminum, 72 x 48 inches, courtesy of the artist.

MAIN GALLERY

JOHANNA BARUCH: AS ABOVE, SO BELOW

Curated by Louisa Gloger

Inverness-based artist Johanna Baruch paints the cosmos. She begins by looking at the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope images for inspiration. Her paintings are not literal representations but interpretations, the way the image and the science behind the image feel as they take shape within her, always moving, layering, and growing into patterns. She builds up thin layers of glazes to create her large-format luminous paintings that draw us out into the vastness and majesty of the universe.

LEARN MORE >

ROB GAILEY, Red Chert (detail), 2022, Photomicrograph with crossed polarizing filters, approx. 150 x magnification, 13 ¾ x 23 ½ inches, courtesy of the artist.

BINH DANH, Two Brothers and a Mom, 2021, Archival Pigment Print, 7 ½ x 10 inches, courtesy of PhotoAlliance.

Postmark on envelope, 1885.