Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Jo Ruggieri.
Emily Jo, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I always loved anything creative growing up mostly because both of my parents are musicians. I started to fall in love with drawing and painting in middle school. When I got into high school, I actually didn’t create anything for two years because I had an awful experience with the art teacher I had. After starting college as a chemistry major, I switched to art, and I am so happy with that. I am still going there with only two classes left, and I have learned so much from my peers and professors. Now I try to create as much as possible while getting my work out there.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I mostly create oil paintings, although I have been creating woodcuts and, most recently, a performance piece. A lot of the figures that appear in my work are myself, which I create through blind contour drawing. In this way, my figures are how I see them in an unapologetic and unflinching way. I also explore this in how I create the figures. If it is an oil painting, I explore the view of the body with the texture of the paint which I apply with a palette knife. If it is a woodcut, it is explored through the way the cuts are made in the wood. I am interested in why women are represented in such idealized forms in the media around us, and I want to challenge that view of women in my artwork. In addition, I also am interested in how my own story and experiences relate to other stories. A big part of my story is mental illness, such as anxiety and depression, and self-harm. This part of my story has mostly centered around the insecurities I feel with my own body. Thus, I am analyzing the relation between the body and the struggles that women face when they are bombarded with idealized images of women in the media.
Artists face many challenges, but what do you feel is the most pressing among them?
The biggest challenge I see facing a lot of artists is finding the balance between making the art you want to make and making art specifically to make money. In my own practice, I make quite conceptual and modern artwork which doesn’t appeal to all individuals. However, if I want to make money, I have to find a way to appeal to more individuals who can afford it and who would like to buy it. It puts me in a hard place of what artwork I should make and who I’m appealing it to. It’s a hard place to be, especially when you just want to make art to show but not necessarily sell, but then you also want to make a career as an artist.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Right now, I have a piece up at The Foundry at New Village Arts in Carlsbad. It is up until May 20th. My art is also always posted to Instagram at @em_rouge_art. The best way to support my art would be to follow me on Instagram, tell your friends, and purchase something if you have the money. My artwork is always for sale, and I am also going to be making some more woodcut prints on t-shirts and pillowcases in the future.
Contact Info:
- Phone: (951)331-6382
- Email: emruggieriart@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/em_rouge_art/
Image Credit:
Performance piece photo credit: Sarah Bricke, Instagram: @sarahbricke
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition, please let us know here.
