Land, Body, and Soul features recent paintings from Rucker’s series of the same name. Her pieces, varying in size and created with encaustic paint, allude – even in their balanced finality – to the kinetic technique employed to create them. And it is precisely that energy that defines Rucker’s work; ever-evolving and constantly in a state of movement, the pieces continuously demand time and consideration.
​
Treading the line between abstract and figurative, Rucker encourages viewers to make sense of the ambiguity. The unrecognizable becomes familiar. Planes of color become dialogue. Rucker’s work is heavily influenced by her personal story and experiences with gender and race, and such complexity is reflected in the nuanced layers of the picture plane. As Rucker transitions to a new series, these paintings act as not only a final reflection upon the “Land, Body, and Soul” series, but also as part of the continuous transformation itself.
​
Tina Mari Rucker (b. San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Chicago-based artist. Rucker received her BA in Filmmaking from Columbia College Chicago before graduating with an MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she was awarded the Graduate College Diversity Fellowship. Upon graduation, her interdisciplinary interests also lead her to painting. Rucker is currently an artist-in-residence at Zhou B Art Center and her work has been displayed throughout Chicago and in New York.
​
​