week 7 - gabriela ruiz

My artist is Gabriela Ruiz, a 28-year-old self-taught multimedia Chicana artist, born and raised in Los Angeles. I chose Gabriela because I’ve been following her on Instagram for a few years and I think she’s very cool and inspirational. Outside of a few fashion and art classes at community college, she didn’t have a super formal arts education. She’s from a working-class immigrant family and didn’t have access to a lot of resources growing up so she’s very into DIY. She even jokes about going to “Youtube University.” She’s determined to follow her dreams in spite of all the obstacles put in her way and I really admire her for that. She doesn’t make art with the intention of showing in a fancy gallery and making lots of money. She makes art first and foremost for herself, mostly to work through her emotions and past traumas.

Her first solo show, Haus, was a multi-room immersive installation that opened at the Little Tokyo Arts Complex in 2017. There were five different monochromatic rooms, each representing a specific domestic setting and mood—there was a red living room, a green kitchen, a blue bedroom, a pink bathroom, and a yellow sex dungeon. Gabriela put the entire show together in 3 weeks with virtually no budget. The furniture used in the installation was either donated, discarded, or upcycled. She covered everything in insulation foam to give it a lumpy, distorted appearance and then painted it all one color. Ruiz is constantly thinking about houses and the concept of “home.” Her parents were separated and she spent a large portion of her childhood moving around, back and forth between her mother and father. Haus is a clear expression of her lifelong desire for stability and a place to call her own.

Gabriela Ruiz posing in the blue bedroom from Haus