A Loyola artist has transformed a disgusting idea into delicate, sentimental works of art in a new exhibit.
Christine Ruby, visual arts senior, is one of the recipients of the Scully Scholarship, an award given in the spring to two distinguished Loyola artists.
The scholarship is named after Lydia Scully, who taught at Loyola, and her husband Raymond, who was an artist. The scholarship is given to rising seniors or juniors majoring either in visual arts or graphic design. The recipients of the award then display their work in a two-part show.
Ruby’s artwork will be on display until March 8 in the downstairs gallery of the Visual Arts Building, located on Loyola’s Broadway Campus.
Her collection, called “Contagious,” features embroidered, old fashioned handkerchiefs. But these aren’t your average flower-stitched hankies; instead they’re designs of viruses – smallpox, influenza, meningitis, the mumps and the common cold. The idea is very literal: “When you blow your nose the virus is on the handkerchief,” she said.
The five handkerchiefs will be displayed in separate drawers. Her inspiration came from a dresser passed down to her from her great grandmother. She said she loves the nostalgic smell when opening the dresser drawers in which personal items like lingerie and handkerchiefs were once kept. It reminds her of her great grandmother, which is the effect she’s going for in her show.
“I’m really attracted to feminine, organic, natural things,” she said of the consistent themes running throughout her pieces. The handkerchiefs are “an heirloom thing, something special.”
As a child, her babysitter taught her to sew, but her mom taught her needlepoint, and they often make clothes together, a tradition among the women in her family.
Aside from the embroidered handkerchiefs, the show will also feature ceramic pieces made by Ruby.
The ceramic pieces are cylindrical vase forms with leaf-shaped spaces cut out. The leaf spaces have thread sewn into the vase form. She said the “thread lends itself in that it’s hand-sewn, following the same tradition.”
After shaping these ceramic pieces, Ruby then placed them in a large tin and used fire to smoke them, like a barbeque, “minus the sauce,” she said. The effect is a dark, charcoal color that is smooth on the outside, in contrast to the rivets made on the inside.
“It’s really nice to touch,” she said. This tactile element is a common aspect in a lot of the work she makes. She said she likes the experience she gets when physically interacting with the art.
Ruby will be graduating in December. She then plans to take a few months off before attending graduate school. She says she plans to get her MFA in sculpture.
Ruby’s collection will be on display in the Visual Arts building before the second part of the show goes up on March 9.
Korinna Sheahan can be reached at [email protected].
