Ruah Edelstein
ENTRY
I was born in Klaipėda, Lithuania, and received my early education at Adomo Brako School of Fine Arts. Around the age of ten, I encountered an installation titled The Water Well: one hundred clay bells suspended at varying heights, reflected in a mirror below.
Until then, I knew figurative art. This revealed something else, the presence of concept, an unseen dimension expanding perception. That moment changed everything.
Until then, I knew figurative art. This revealed something else, the presence of concept, an unseen dimension expanding perception. That moment changed everything.
Studies
In the mid-1990s I moved to Great Britain to study stage directing and toured Western Europe with a theater company. Later studies included the National Film School of Ireland, FAMU in Prague, and ENSAD in Paris.
In 2006 I moved to the United States, receiving a BFA in Character Animation and an MFA in Experimental Animation from CalArts.
In 2006 I moved to the United States, receiving a BFA in Character Animation and an MFA in Experimental Animation from CalArts.
Search
Atrocities continued in a world that had already produced Goethe, Klimt, Kant, Brahms. Beauty and intellect did not prevent cruelty.
Yet something within persists, a measure of truth not always visible. At times it appears as a recollection, something the soul remembers beyond conscious thought. This intuition forms the basis of my work.
Yet something within persists, a measure of truth not always visible. At times it appears as a recollection, something the soul remembers beyond conscious thought. This intuition forms the basis of my work.
Died 100 times
In 2012, this search found form in the film Died 100 Times, produced in Los Angeles using mixed-media painting techniques. The film explores transformation through repeated endings, where each dissolution opens the possibility of renewal.
It has been exhibited internationally and received multiple awards.
It has been exhibited internationally and received multiple awards.
Lumen Animae STUDIOS
In 2012, together with filmmaker Masha Vasilkovsky, I co-founded Lumen Animae Studios in Los Angeles. The work we created grew from shared life and moved across film, exhibitions, and education, engaging social and humanistic themes, finding its way internationally, including Sundance, the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles, the Holocaust Museum LA, and the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum. The film Ashe ’68 received an Emmy nomination in 2019.
Following the passing of Masha Vasilkovsky ז״ל in 2025, the studio continues in transition, as the work carries forward.
Following the passing of Masha Vasilkovsky ז״ל in 2025, the studio continues in transition, as the work carries forward.
RE : Studio LA
RE : Studio LA emerges as the current working form of Ruah Edelstein’s practice, continuing the work forward through film, visual art, and collaboration.
.jpg "Ruah Edelstein portrait")
Photo by: Serafina Orlovas
Why Art
White already contains all colors. The empty canvas holds everything. I do not seek to impose, but to listen. Something reveals itself, and I follow it into form. That process, entering and allowing, is the deepest sense of meaning I know.
Today
My studio is located in the mountains north of Los Angeles. My current work explores pattern, repetition, and resonance, searching for what connects experience across time.
The process is direct. Intuition leads. The work unfolds itself.
The process is direct. Intuition leads. The work unfolds itself.
Gaze Seeks Gaze
© 2014 Ruah Edelstein