A Sense of Home by Ricardo Ruiz

Ricardo Ruiz (1958) was born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas and has been making art there professionally since 1986. His work examines the mysteries of Life, Love and Death; as well as the commonality of the life experience. His love for Renaissance, in particular, Northern Renaissance art is evident in his attention to detail and the highly finished surfaces of his work. He uses imagery culled from religion, folklore and the Mexican-American culture of South Texas. His imagery includes devils, angels, martyr frogs, family members and theever-present Grackle.

The images in this current body of work are concerned with the idea of the Home and the layers of meaning associated with that concept. The artist has had two homes in his lifetime: the home he grew up in and the home he and his wife purchased in 1994 and currently share with two of their sons. Since moving into that house, Ruiz has examined the notions of parenthood, fatherhood, as well as the comedies and dramas of home-life. Each work is a narrative that explores the strange magic that comes from living in this part of the world and in this space in time.

A new theme which has emerged in these works is that of the homeless and the refugee; people driven from their homes due to disaster, persecution, economics and war. It seems impossible to imagine the mindset of someone who is forced to leave all they know and escapeto strange lands which are not always welcoming.

Ruiz earned his BFA in 1986 at Corpus Christi State University and later, in 2014, received his MFA from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (formerly Corpus Christi State University). His work is in numerous museum and private collections, including the collection of Richard “Cheech” Marin, who has described Ricardos’ work as “everything Chicano Art should be: well-painted, familiar and mysterious.”