Ruki Neuhold-Ravikumar MFA

Office Hours

Tuesday, 11:00AM– 12:00PM or By Appointment

Bio

Current Projects

In my work, I delve into the intricate and often polarizing values of age, gender, culture, and sex through the medium of repurposed executive wear. The garments, once symbols of corporate authority and conventional success, are transformed into canvases and sculptures that question and redefine their original context. By doing so, I aim to provoke new conversations and perspectives around these deeply ingrained societal constructs.

The executive wear I use is not merely material; it is a repository of stories and histories. Each piece carries the imprints of its previous life—boardroom meetings, high-stakes negotiations, and the invisible labor of maintaining a professional facade. In repurposing these items, I seek to dismantle the traditional narratives they embody and reconstruct them into something that challenges our preconceptions.

Age, gender, culture, and sex are often seen as fixed categories, but my work aims to highlight their fluidity and intersectionality. By deconstructing and reassembling these garments, I explore how these identities can overlap, clash, and coexist. The resulting pieces are intentionally ambiguous, encouraging viewers to question their own assumptions and engage in dialogue about the complex nature of identity.

The process of transformation is central to my practice. It involves cutting, sewing, dyeing, and sometimes even destroying the original fabric to create something entirely new. This act of creation from destruction mirrors the societal need to break down old structures to build more inclusive and nuanced understandings of identity. The tactile nature of the work invites viewers to not only see but feel the tension and harmony between the old and the new, the familiar and the unknown.

Ultimately, my work is about conversation—about sparking dialogue between disparate values and finding common ground in the midst of difference. It is an invitation to look beyond the surface, to question what we accept as given, and to imagine new possibilities for understanding and relating to one another.

By repurposing executive wear, I hope to create a space where the rigid boundaries of age, gender, culture, and sex can dissolve, allowing for a more fluid and open exploration of humanism in public spaces– who we are and who we can be.