Christy Rupp
Sociopolitical eco art activist Christy Rupp studies of habitat degradation and economics. Her work explores the social costs of environmental disruption. Rupp has exhibited widely. For sculpture, she received two individual fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. She was active in COLAB and instrumental in the founding of ABC No Rio. She was affiliated with Group Material.
For more information: www.christyrupp.com
untitled
1985
screen print
edition: 30, 5 AP
image: 14"h X 26"w
6 colors on Chiri
Life feeds on life.
My work is informed by the study of animal behavior and habitat. I work as a conceptual artist and citizen scientist. In the kaleidoscopic lab of my studio, discarded plastics and papers become art. For decades, I have collected objects disgorged from the waste stream. I have come to believe that although the landscape of ecocide is a sad place, it is also a place of rebirth.
Growing up in the Great Lakes rustbelt of the ’50s and ’60s, I was aware at an early age how the language we use to describe the environment establishes our place in the natural world. Our perceptions are as much framed by stories of waste as they are of wonder. Like many artists moving to NYC in the late 70's, I was fortunate to be a participant in the petri dish of economic decline and urban ecology. For the past four decades, my focus on Discard Studies has mobilized my sculpture practice, representing species in the crosshairs of survival.
Christy Rupp 2023