Ruth Tabancay: (un) Natural Order 2.0

Ruth Tabancay’s recent work centers around environmental issues and ecological systems. Tabancay’s body of work initially began when she was asked to make art for an Earth Day show: she began embroidering micro-organisms on plastic bags and polystyrene trays hoping to portray a biological system digesting plastic. This was the start of her research into the topic, which has expanded to include global warming, bleaching of the coral reefs, fast fashion, and mycorrhizal networks. ‘(un) Natural Order 2.0’ addresses these topics as an outcome and a solution.

Ruth Tabancay’s passion for science led her to study microbiology in college. Following a stint as a hospital laboratory technologist, she went on to medical school. After 11 years in private practice, she left medicine to study art. She uses textile techniques such as embroidery, crochet, knitting, felting; sculptural processes such as cast sugar and assemblage; and sculptural explorations of hyperbolic geometry. Concepts range from microbiological depictions to global warming to plastic accumulation on the planet. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley; University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco; and California College of the Arts. Her work has been exhibited regionally and nationally, including The Textile Museum, Washington, DC; Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco; World Financial Center, New York City; California College of the Arts, San Francisco; and San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles. She lives in Berkeley, California. She has been a member of Mercury 20 since 2012.

Gallery Hours: Fr + Sat, 12 – 5 pm
Artists’ Reception: Sat, August 10, 4 – 6 pm
Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: August 2 + September 6, 5 – 9 pm