Ruth Marten:

A Phantasmagoric Traveler

DIRECTOR and CINEMATOGRAPHER: Katalina Gutierrez

“I get all of my ideas when I’m in the swimming pool. Something about the water, and the sensory deprivation, strips away the obvious and leaves you with the nugget of truth.” –Ruth Marten

A Phantasmagoric Traveler is a documentary about New York based visual artist Ruth Marten, who despises the time when she first entered into the art world, first as a tattoo artist during the 70s and later as an illustrator. She is passionate about surrealism and had a retrospective at the The Max Ernst Museum in Germany in 2018. 

The documentary captures women’s subjectivity in relation to their political surroundings by discussing important political battles by female artists and the impact of groups such as the Gorilla Girls during the 70s and 80s. 

Over the decades until now, Ruth has created her own visual language, which often reflects on the politics of her lifetime. Her collage work offers an almost anarchic exploration in the connection between past and present. My film uncovers a meta-narrative created by a conversation between works from different time periods, such as antique prints and contemporary artworks, to discuss issues of authorship and colonialism.