Ruth Vander Horck is a Madison-based artist who works primarily in clay. Vander Horck taught in public and private schools (pre-K-16) until 2015 when she was accepted in the Master of Fine Arts program in Visual Art at Indiana University’s Herron School of Art. Graduating in 2018, she set up her ceramics and sculpture studio in Madison, Wisconsin.

 Vander Horck has developed lines of work that relate to her lived experience and her feminist view of the world. These sculptures include her “Adoring Cows” that gaze up at you in a pleasant way, but with a bit of attitude. With a cow’s head and a women’s body they communicate an experience many women can relate to, as they appear to listen, but have their own thoughts.

Vander Horck has another line of work, “Pregnant Thoughts” clay torsos that are appropriate for gallery settings. The torso forms were created with plaster casts of pregnant friends and family members. Pushing the limits, Vander Horck soaks fabrics and clothing in clay slip and presses and drapes these into the body casts. Found objects are attached to or surround the torsos to add context to their meaning.

Another line of work, “Corsets,” involves a family story and the casting of a turn of the century fabric corset. Vander Horck carves into and reclaims details from the stoneware and porcelain slip casting, as well printing text and images into the corset vessels.

Vander Horck has shown at the Eskenazi Fine Arts Center, Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis, Ind.; North End Arts Gallery, Superior, Wis.; Spring Green Art Center, Spring Green, Wis.; The Stream, Edgewood College, Madison, Wis.; Milwaukee Institute Art and Design, Milwaukee, Wis.; Penn State University Student Union, State College, Pa.; Minot Art Gallery, Minot, N.D.; Holden Fine and Applied Arts Center, University of Wisconsin, Superior; and the Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, Minn.