ARTIST STATEMENT
I’ve moved seven times in my adult life, all voluntarily. Possibly my sense of rootlessness is the impetus for my focus on migration. I am angry and saddened by our country’s brutal policies, and wanted to bear witness to the hardship of those who are fleeing violence, as my grandparents did years ago. This work was created and shown in 2019 and is more relevant than ever now.
My submission is one piece from an installation of five. For this body of work I wanted to bring the work into the viewer’s space where it can’t be ignored. Although most of my work is on paper, for this I felt that fabric would not only be more durable but would suggest nurturing, caring, softness, while cuts and voids undermine any thoughts of permanence or kindness.
The images are appropriated from newspapers from the countries from which most of the migrants are coming from- La Prensa from Honduras, El Diario from Mexico. Removal of bits of the images suggest deterioration: of trust in the news, of attention paid, of empathy, of acceptance. The individuals in these photographs deserve our attention, and my choice is to give them tangible agency. On the back I printed images of the American flag in black and white, so that viewers see the news images when they approach the works, and see the flag in tatters on the back.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Donna Ruff was born in Chicago, Illinois, and lives and works in Miami, Florida. Ruff received an MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in 2000. She works in mixed media on handmade paper and on found printed matter, referencing newspapers, books, and historical documents. Ruff is interested in the materiality of paper, and how image and text can be transformed to create new meaning. Selected solo exhibitions include “Textura Obscura (2024) FIU MBUS Gallery; Terra Incognita, (2023) Deering Estate, Miami, Florida; “Based on a True Story, (2023) Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, California; “The Subject Speaks its Own Importance (2020) Rick Wester Fine Art, New York, New York. Selected group shows include “Fit to Print (2021) Print Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; “Spheres of Meaning (2019) Patricia and Philip Frost Art Museum, Miami, Florida; “The Times (2016) FLAG Foundation, New York, New York, and “Entangled in the Mangroves (20245) at the Baker Museum, Naples, Florida. Ruff is the recipient of the Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant, a Miami Individual Artist Grant, and the Ellies Creator Award. Public collections that include her work are the Victoria & Albert Museum, The Morgan Library, Smith College, New Mexico Museum of Art, The Philip and Patricia Frost Art Museum, the Library of Congress, and the Deering Estate. Her work is held in numerous private collections globally.
© Donna Ruff