American artist Ruth Cohen will be back at Studio 88 in January 2024, where she will also be collaborating with Chiangmai Art on Paper.
Ruth Cohen is a self-taught mixed media artist. Since 1992 her drawings, painting, prints and collages have depicted scenes, landscapes, still lives and abstract textures inspired by everyday life. With a home in Albuquerque, Ruth frequently travels to European countries and often stays in Bangkok, Thailand with her son and his family. Her artwork has been exhibited in France, Laos and in Albuquerque, New Mexico where she has been represented by Mariposa Gallery since 2014.
Ruth returns to Studio 88 to work on her current body of work, The Backs of Women. While in Chiangmai, she will become more familiar with Thai women’s lives, and their impact on their communities. She will write about walking among working women and about the creativity and interests that surface as a result. This past year, at Studio 88, she began larger drawings and painting from these drawings. Since then, she completed 10 watercolour and acrylic paintings; three Thai women, one Laos woman, one Malay woman, and five Parisian women. As a body of work, she hopes that The Backs of Women can continue to honour women’s determination, their strength and important labour. She will also consider how this body of work can evolve into more developed prints, mixed media pieces and paintings.
In addition to working at Studio 88, Ruth will also collaborate with Chiangmai Art on Paper Studio to create a print edition inspired by the recent paintings of the backs of women.
This residency and collaboration continues Ruth’s ongoing engagement with the region. In 2023 not only was she an artist-in-residence at Studio 88 (you can read more about her experience here), but she also held an exhibition at Siamaya Chocolate Factory Flagship Store, Weave Artisan Society, for Women Historical Month and International Women’s Day to celebrate a global women rights movement.
Studio 88 Artist Residency 