Marisol Ruiz

Region: South

Website: https://marisolruiz.art/

City / State: Brooklyn, NY

My paintings are collages of inherited memories, framed like a photograph, by symbols of post-colonial history. I grew up in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, a land marked by the colonial labors of sugarcane production. Through painting, I explore my culture, connection to family, nostalgia, love, and grief. The places I depict are collages of memories and imagination. My paintings are a connection to my family’s oral history.

I make oil paintings on canvas and panel. My vibrant, pastel-colored paintings reference familial photographic sources, Puerto Rican flora, and architecture. The paintings are punctuated with domestic colonial signifiers: tiles, railings, mundillo (bobbin lace), and stained glass, a fragile facade of success.