Then New Jersey-based artist and teacher Ruth Borgenicht went to college and studied mathematics. But as she shared in a statement, “The love of math wasn’t enough to come up with new ideas in this field – unfortunately for me, that also required genius.” As the saying goes, when a door closes, a window opens, and for Borgenicht that opportunity came in the form of ceramics.
Through precise shapes and meticulous stoneware arrangements, the artist creates wall-hung and tabletop sculptures that are in some cases even kinetic, alternating between basket-like vessels and sturdy, elegantly nested abstract forms. They often hang like a carpet from a series of nails or unfold into three-dimensional biomorphic shapes, such as hair Centipedes series, which mimic the long, multi-legged bodies of the often-loathed arthropods.
The precision of geometry and other mathematical concepts are the foundation of Borgenicht’s work, but she enjoys their relationship to nature and the handmade. “Mathematics, at least at the undergraduate level, often involves learning familiar ways of thinking and working along proven paths,” she tells Colossal. “Clay, on the other hand, records the imprint of every touch, pressure and gesture that comes into contact with it. No two objects formed by human hands can ever be identical.”
The inspiration for making chainmail sculptures arose after Borgenicht visited the medieval exhibition space of the Philadelphia Museum of Art almost forty years ago. “It struck me that it would be absurd to make chain mail – or indeed any movable mesh – out of clay,” she says. “So of course I had to try.”
Borgenicht is currently working towards an exhibition in NL=US Art in Rotterdam, which is expected to open in February 2027 and will include a foray into 3D printing. “I’ve been thinking about how forces, repercussions, and influence reverberate across vast, interconnected systems,” she says. “A small decision in one arena can have a major impact on a completely different atmosphere on the other side of the world.”
View more of Borgenicht’s work at Instagram.
