The work of Rancho Santa Fe artist Heidi Rufeh portrays passion and thoughtfulness through the use of intense hues and energetic form. Her provocative, aesthetic style, developed over several decades, draws the viewer in.
Thirty of Rufeh’s art pieces are now on exhibit at the San Diego Cancer Center in Encinitas and will remain there through Jan. 18. Under the curatorship of Dr. Yanina Yadler, who is also an artist herself, the center has opened it’s facilities to local, acclaimed artists. It provides both exhibition opportunities and an aesthetic, calming environment for its patients.
Rufeh learned of the center after her husband succumbed to his own battle with cancer in 2004. “I saw first-hand the unpleasant surroundings that my husband endured as he underwent rounds of chemotherapy, it was depressing. Then through a friend, I saw what Yanina had done for the San Diego Cancer Center. It was so much more pleasant, bringing in beautiful art to help the healing process, I wanted to be a part of that, to give something back to other cancer patients.”
An opening reception was held on Friday evening, Nov. 20. The mosaic art of Solana Beach-based artist Amber Irwin, and the landscape oil paintings of Fallbrook artist Fernanda Reynolds, were also showcased. Rufeh’s exhibited work includes her large scale acrylic paintings, and mixed media pieces that combine encaustic medium with acrylics, calligraphic details and photographic elements.
Rufeh’s abstract work has its roots in a childhood that witnessed the divided and politically charged city of Berlin during the 1950s. “My hometown was in constant political turmoil, it was like living on an island although it was a creative, energetic metropolis,” she said in a recent interview. “We had relatives on the east side, then once the wall went up we couldn’t visit them anymore. The horror of people trying to climb the wall who were then shot was one that we lived with and constantly feared.”
It was this fear and political polarization, paired with a lack of support for her art, that led Rufeh, a young adult, to leave her native city. Although an artistic vein ran through her family–Rufeh’s father was creative and wanted to become a sculpture, an unrealized ambition due to the hardships of war–Rufeh’s artistry was not encouraged. “I had taken some art lessons while in Berlin but my father was not supportive. So I decided to leave for a year, to visit the States and experience freedom.” That year would ultimately turn into a lifetime.
A move to the Boston area in 1963 allowed Rufeh to paint without criticism, then a year later she met her future husband, Firooz Rufeh, when he organized a party to celebrate the Persian New Year on March 21. The couple married and started a family and as their two children grew Rufeh attended the Massachusetts College of Art, the Art Institute of Boston and the De Cordova Museum School in Lincoln, Massachusetts where she perfected her artistic skills.
The family of four moved to San Diego in 1994; this relocation brought them into the community of Rancho Santa Fe where Rufeh incorporated a spacious studio into their home. Living in a place where the sun never stops shining influenced her art, said Rufeh. “My colors intensified and my attitude brightened,” she said. The inspiration of nature, seen in a light infused setting, took Rufeh’s work to a new level and provided her with a renewed energy to produce a vast body of work. It also facilitated a more focused vehicle for her passion.
“I love to connect with nature, and to express it with my personal feelings. I use color to do this, to suggest this psychological association,” Rufeh explained. “For example you can see by my work when I am happy, and you can also see when I struggle, when I have anxiety.”
Working with mixed-media, which often includes natural elements like sand or grasses, Rufeh also incorporates the ancient skill of the encaustic method. “It’s a challenging medium that you have to work very slowly with as it uses heated beeswax with Damar resin to create texture and depth, it’s a process that requires you to be patient and methodical.”
Pure pigment paints are worked into the wax and resin base that create a color infused relief with translucent qualities. And although the process is toxic–Rufeh takes steps to ventilate her studio to minimize the harm–it is a joyful method that is worth the potential risk, she said. “With the layers of wax the colors glow, they take on a luminosity that you cannot achieve with other mediums.”
The joy in Rufeh’s work gave way to sadness when her husband passed away with cancer five years ago. But since then it has proved to be a source of personal therapy as Rufeh heals from the loss through her art. “I threw myself into my work. It was cathartic. And now that same art is helping others to heal.”
Rufeh’s large art pieces are held in private collections throughout the USA and in Europe, and have been exhibited extensively over the past decade. Solo shows at the Tantow Gallerie in Berlin in 2007, and at the prestigious Berlin Art Center in 2008, gave Rufeh international acclaim. She has exhibited with her daughter, also a fine artist and photographer, and has been part of numerous invitational exhibitions nationally. In mid January Rufeh’s work may be seen at the Ordover Gallery in Solana Beach as part of a group exhibition.
To view Rufeh’s current exhibition at the San Diego Cancer Center email Rufeh at hirufeh@aol.com to schedule a private appointment. To find out more about Heidi Rufeh and her body of work visit www.heidirufeh.com
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