Rita Leduc is a research artist and creative catalyst whose work investigates relationships, systems, light, and distributions of consciousness. A synesthete with an acutely calibrated ability to discern parts, perceive patterns, and relate to systems, she absorbs sensorial idiosyncrasies, rhythms, and insights through participation with ecosystems of all kinds. While her starting point is often visual research in a “natural” ecosystem, she absorbs and applies this relational understanding to human and societal scales where she dexterously transports, translates, and transmits it into creative byproducts, public presentations, educational opportunities, and interdisciplinary community initiatives.
Current examples of ongoing endeavors include multifaceted Oika Research collaborations with ecologist Dr. Rich Blundell that merge creativity, deep-time natural science, contemplation, and cultural transformation. Extending Ecology with the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest began in 2021 and, through researching light in the gorge as well as other phenomena in the forest, has been a case study in “how the light gets out” via local and international public exhibitions, workshops, and talks. Oika Nantucket: Cause and Affectionis an investigation in “how the light gets through” as they study and share relational dynamics and light quality from a continuum of vantage points spanning eelgrass beds to community stakeholders. In 2025, the team begins an extension of Extending Ecology at Smith College’s Arts Afield program, where they explore “how the light gets shared” with performance duo Walking Backwards and MacLeish Field Station.
Additionally, Leduc offers process-oriented creative direction through GROUNDWORK (GW: Interdisciplinary Cultivation Unit now at Rutgers) and is honored to be a member of The PLACE Collective where art is used to “inspire, amaze, and enrich research within our wider communities.” She also teaches in Rutgers University’s interdisciplinary program, Creative Expression and the Environment.
Leduc received her MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, Post-Baccalaureate Certificate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and BA from the University of Pennsylvania (summa cum laude).
