Masha Ryskin & Serge Marchetta

Masha Ryskin (Providence, RI) and Serge Marchetta (Montreal, Canada) were an artists-in-residence at Prairieside Outpost in July 2024. During their residency, they responded to the Kansas landscape by exploring an expansive environment on both micro and macro scales.

The Prairieside Outpost is nothing short of magic. We arrived there with a previously decided plan that went straight out the window. Our work is related to place and we immediately knew that we will respond to the surroundings.

Both the house and the studio were amazing places to live and work. Masha set up shop in the studio drawing and painting while Serge stayed at the cottage and worked on the videos.

The little studio was perfect for the project, the large table was used to work on the big scroll and the smaller one served as a great place for smaller paintings and drawings. The scroll was a wonderful form to address the micro vs. macro quality of the surrounding landscape, while the paintings allowed me to really get into the layers closeups of the landscape.

Immediately, we realized that our work will center on the prairie and the rich ecosystem in the grasses. We spent time walking in Bill’s sculpture park and along the fields, taking pictures, sketching, and just watching the movement in the grass.

We also drove out to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. We were blown away not only by the expanse of the landscape but also the depth of the world once you get close to the ground. This duality became an important part of our explorations.

We also spent time filming everything around us – the grasses in the wind, the textures, and also the surfaces of the drawings, especially the scroll. Serge then combined the drawings and the footage in the video to respond to the feeling of the landscape and talk about place and the passage of time.