Gloria Ruiz, who left Colombia just five years ago, holds an M.A. from the State Institute of Fine Arts of Colombia. She works in oil paint, sometimes combined with soil, depicting symbols which refer to her Colombian ancestry as well as to universal pre-Christian runes and glyphs . For most of her life she lived in the city of Cali, Colombia, a place that has been torn by the violence of the drug trade and a determined separatist rebel movement. Her spiritual, introspective visions are largely reactions to that environment; the works whisper her existence in gentle yet profound manner. Successive series of works, starting in college, refer to stages of the artist's emotional developement. Ms. Ruiz has been exhibiting internationally since 1997 in South America, Europe and the US. "Explorations" will reveal to visitors the conceptual, carefully manuvered path that these two women have travelled to find themselves on canvas.


Gloria Ruiz
"I Am"
2002
Oil on canvas
28"x40"