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Meet the Illustrator Who Puts Algae on Paper

Using algae and gouache, artist Katharine Rutter explores the self and fairy tales through imaginative illustrations.
‘Stranger Love’. Images courtesy the artist

Algae as an illustration medium first struck artist and illustrator Katherine Rutter, who creates fantastically surreal drawings, while visiting her family in Arkansas one late summer. Hot and humid, Rutter and family members went down to a nearby creek to cool off. There, an algae bloom was taking over the creek, creating what the artist calls “handfuls, armfuls of these thick, green, hairlike strands.” Completely taken by the algae, Rutter soon began experimenting with it.

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“I guess it’s pretty gross but I was fully immersed in it, physically and mentally,” Rutter tells The Creators Project. “I originally wanted to make some sort of sculptural form with it, but after that failed, I applied it to paper. I don’t remember now if I was already familiar with Jung, but the act of discovering images through the algae was in line with my belief in the importance of the unconscious self, and learning to embrace all forms of the self.”

Detail on ‘Stranger Love’

Rutter, who recently moved to Savannah, Georgia from Oakland, has always enjoyed visual narratives, especially if they are of the fantastical variety. She began drawing at a young age—mostly pencil drawings on printer paper depicting various stories from either the Bible, her family’s farm animals, or the fertile ground of her imagination. After earning a BFA in photography from the University of Central Arkansas, where there was no drawing emphasis, she returned to illustration. Most recently, Rutter was part of a group exhibition titled Naked Light at Athen B. Gallery in Oakland.

“My work has changed gradually and drastically since then, discovering gouache, discovering algae, discovering myself,” Rutter says. “I mean, I think that’s so much of what art-making is: an exploration and discovery of something that is part of you.”

Algae is now an important part of Rutter’s artistic process. It gives her unconscious mind a voice that it might not otherwise have had. She sees the odd shapes created with algae as being akin to a Rorschach Test, upon which she builds using other media like watercolor, coffee, ink and pencil.

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‘A landscape of me and you; expose the truth, explore the unknown; everything you touch turns to gold, detail’

Rutter, a tactile person by nature, loves using her hands and fingers. She says it makes things more intimate because there is a different energy to it. When Rutter pulls the algae out of a jar, she allows a delicate and collaborative dance of sorts to unfold.

“After it dries is when I begin to search for images,” says Rutter. “Before applying the algae to paper, it’s completely blank and I have no concept for the composition, no ideas, no sketches. For me this is a way of letting go, of releasing this sense of control that we as humans tend to hold onto.”

Detail on ‘A landscape of me and you; expose the truth, explore the unknown; everything you touch turns to gold, detail’

Looking at the fantastical qualities of Rutter’s drawings, one can’t help but think of illustrator Arthur Rackham’s work. Rutter, like Rackham, conjures imaginative fairytale worlds—ones that people might encounter in dreams.

Rutter, who adores Rackham, is fascinated with fairy tales and folklore. She says at first glance they seem to be lighthearted, beautiful, and fantastical silly stories, but beneath them are some incredibly dark characters and themes. She likens them to how adults idealize childhood as a “lovely time of puppies and ice cream,” while perhaps neglecting the darker shades of these formative years.

Detail on ‘A landscape of me and you; expose the truth, explore the unknown; everything you touch turns to gold, detail’

“I think it’s important for us to not only recognize the existence of this inherent darkness, but to embrace it as being part of what makes life beautiful and interesting,” Rutter explains. “I explore some of these ideas in my work as well as thoughts of the feminine, our desire for beauty, and the human connection and struggle with self and nature.”

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‘Milk and honey will heal you, but not cure you; protect yourself, but don't harden yourself—the vultures are always hungry’

Rutter is hoping the change of scenery in Savannah helps alter her art practice in some ways. She felt malnourished in Oakland, and is looking for more balance both in art and life in her new city.

“I’m about to start a project illustrating a book—kind of a children’s story for adults,” she says. “Aside from that I’m trying to keep things open-ended, allowing more time for experimentation and discovery, with algae and whatever else might come my way.”

Detail on ‘Milk and honey will heal you, but not cure you; protect yourself, but don't harden yourself -- the vultures are always hungry’

‘And within these open spaces, these bruises, may you find that warm blanket of tenderness that is yours’

Detail on ‘And within these open spaces, these bruises, may you find that warm blanket of tenderness that is yours’

Click here to see more of Katherine Rutter’s work.

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