Maria Ruggiero
Valley Wildlife Refuge in Kauai (2020)
watercolor on Yupo
5 x 7 in.
$180
Hawaiian Botanical Study #1 (2020)
watercolor on Yupo
5 x 5 in.
$160
Hawaiian Botanical Study #2 (2020)
watercolor on Yupo
5 x 5 in.
Sold
Maria Ruggiero’s work draws from personal experiences, especially those influenced by events involving her family and travel. Her paintings, which have connections to both still-life and landscape genres, incorporate imagery from specific places, objects or events–especially from places or institutions such as aquariums, zoos, and botanical gardens. She often combines visual elements in unexpected ways as a means of exploring the sometimes contradictory or complex aspects of human interactions with the natural world. Her work, through the lens of her own experiences, attempts to investigate the entangled relationship between contemporary human life and the environment.
The paintings submitted for this exhibition include two small botanical studies based on plants found in the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. The landscape is prompted by digital images the artist took while visiting the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge on Kauai.
© Maria Ruggiero