RUTHANN is pleased to present The River That Flows Both Ways, an exhibition featuring the work of Ever Baldwin, Erika deVries, Clarity Haynes and Portia Munson. This is a two-part exhibition that begins at RUTHANN and continues with Marinaro in New York City, opening in July 2025. 

The concept of flow, an experience of total engagement in an activity, was introduced into psychology by Csikszentmihalyi in 1975, based primarily on first-hand accounts in a variety of domains. He found examples in physical activities such as rock climbing, sports (where it is also known as being in the zone), games such as chess, religious rituals, occupational activities such as surgery, and creating in the arts (creative flow). Csikszentmihalyi described the elements of the flow experience this way: The sense of having stepped out of the routines of everyday life into a different reality, clear goals every step of the way, immediate feedback, effortless attention, action and awareness merged, balance between skill and challenge, time distortion, and spontaneity. These properties are cognitive; they are relevant to the study of problem representation, automatic vs. controlled cognitive processes, time perception, and modes of cognition.

The River That Flows Both Ways describes the process by which creative ideas and aesthetics can flow between individual artists to provide mutual inspiration, permission, support, and collaboration. The artists in this exhibition have been engaged in a creative dialogue through studio visits for the past several years. Common themes include working from intuition, feminist, queer and trans approaches to spiritual and activist concerns; magic; collage and found objects/collecting of objects; witchcraft; craft; play; joy; delight; and feminist and LGBTQIA+ resistance.

Ever Baldwin’s oil paintings engage with the human body, landscape, and natural forms, while carved frames extend each piece into sculptural space. The work invites reflection on perception, embodiment, and the relationship between internal experience and external form.

Erika deVries creates in neon, collage, language/text and fabric, also incorporating found objects into enchanting wall hangings. Her neon pieces have also been featured in outdoor public exhibitions, The Weather (BIG EMOTIONS), is currently on view outside the Kingston, NY, YWCA through May 2030. Common themes in Erika’s work include grief, love, vulnerability, awkwardness, and inter-being.

Clarity Haynes is primarily known for her figurative work, torso portraits, and, more recently, crowning paintings. However, a lesser-known aspect of her practice encompasses her trompe l’oeil altar paintings, which display still lifes arranged in the studio to foster a spiritual atmosphere that honors gender diversity, the divine feminine, and LGBT history and activism.

Portia Munson’s maximalist installations critique consumer culture while celebrating the beauty of our imperfect world. Her paintings and sculptures emphasize objects as symbols of femininity and the limitations imposed. Nevertheless, the aesthetics of joy and celebration are empowering, so the critique raises more questions than answers rather than delivering a binary message.