Nell Ruby
www.agnesscott.edu/academics/p_faculty.asp?id=90
www.csupomona.edu/~kellogg_gallery/dpi2/sNellRuby.html

Nell Ruby is an installation artist interested in “exploring boundaries and thresholds-where dark meets light, where inside meets out, where matter meets void and safety meets risk.” In her installations, the artist often combines the use of throwaway materials purchased at the hardware store with photographic projections to compartmentalize space. Her subject matter includes common American products such as soap, toothbrushes, and light switches — which convey benign commonality.

Ruby teaches art at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta where her scholarly interests include installation art—“breaking up real space into unfamiliar compartments.” Her other interests include drawing and seeing with photography, computer technology, mixed media, conceptual awareness and individual vision. She has a B.A. from Rice University and an M.F.A. from Washington University at Saint Louis.

Lecture:
My Take on House Beautiful, Work by Nell Ruby
Wednesday, April 7 at 12:30 p.m. in Langford C105

The artist offers insight into her creations.

Workshop:
Points of View

Students will work with plastic sheeting and mixed media materials to create a series of small temporary rooms/shelters that will be interconnected within a larger public space on campus. The location of the piece will be selected as a group, and the room divisions created will contain elements from the personal lives of the participating artists. These elements may be actual objects, representational drawings of actual objects, digital imagery, abstract mixed media atmospheric conditions (flat or fluffy), and/or other visualizations.

The rooms may be a series of visual autobiographies distinct to each artist, or they may be collaboratively assembled.

Details will be worked out through discussions, drawings and maquettes within the first two days of the workshop. The remaining three days will be devoted to building and developing the space.

“We will strive to create visual transitional elements between the pieces to maintain a cohesive whole,” Ruby said, “while at the same time expressing personalized space.”

The workshop will culminate in an “open house” reception on Friday evening. The process and the planning of this work are as important as the product, and will be displayed alongside the final product.