Immersion
Photographic Works by Elina Ruka
October 5 - 27, 2018
Gravy Studio & Gallery is proud to present Immersion, a series of photographic works by the Latvian artist Elina Ruka. This is the artists first solo show both at the gallery and in Philadelphia. Elina Ruka’s work focuses on the subject of water, which came from a curiosity of how water can powerfully attract and simultaneously push away. As much as she admires water's grandiosity and beauty, she has always feared it. In Ruka’s own words “water's constant movement, its formlessness, diversity and changeability is the motivation to research this theme further and to create art. Working on the subject is contemplating the ever-changing aspect of life, us and photography. The moment when one thinks to have seen the shape of water, it is already gone. Similarly, the way we feel about water is dependent on our life experiences and circumstances, thus, constantly shifting.” Ruka’s work investigates the malleability of image's physical form and visual meaning through the ideas of repetition, processing and multi-layering.
Elina Ruka (1981) received her MFA in Photography from Columbia College Chicago (2016) and is recipient of Fulbright Fellowship, Follett Merit Award and Albert P. Weisman Award at Columbia College Chicago, Jānis Grundmanis Postgraduate Fellowship for Study in the U. S., Ruth and Harold Chenven Foundation artist award and has been funded by State Cultural Capital Foundation of Latvia numerous times. She is 2017 Photo Lucia Critical Mass finalist. Ruka’s work has been published in Aint-Bad magazine (2017), Latvian Photography Yearbook (2013) and Generation of Place: Image, Memory and Fiction in the Baltics (2011). She has exhibited in Latvia, Lithuania, Belgium, Denmark, France and the United States and numerous online exhibitions. Her work is in The Zuzāns collection, The Sondra Gilman and Celso Gonzalez-Falla and other private collections. Elina Ruka has taught photography at Latvian Culture College.
Opening Reception October 5 2018 6-10PM
