Sterling Ruby’s multifaceted practice encompasses sculpture, ceramics, installation, textiles, clothing, painting, collage, photography, and video. From poured polyurethane works to monumental ceramic collages weighing hundreds of pounds to soft sculptures incorporating inexpensive fabrics that the artist often dies himself, to Minimalist compositions of urethane and formica, Ruby’s works cross traditional divisions between media and often straddle the line between high and low, fine art and craft, luxury goods and common necessities. Incorporating a range of modernist strategies to make expressive works of art with materials typically associated with utility and affordability, Ruby’s work addresses a range of issues—from societal to personal—and re-examines notions of beauty and value.
Born on the U.S. Air Force base in Bitburg, Germany in 1972 to an American father and a Dutch mother, Ruby grew up in Baltimore and rural Pennsylvania, where he took art classes at the Pennsylvania School of Art and Design in Lancaster, PA. He received a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2002 and an MFA from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles.