Kris Ruhs

He begins his first series of sculptures inspired by the wood discarded in the streets next to his studio on lower Broadway. Discards of various shapes and sizes become favored materials for him. Old wood is cut, scraped, carved, painted over and burned to give a new surface and shape that carries a deep, metaphorical weight. While still wood, and recognized, we see the passage of time reflected in these new processes that the wooden “Boxes” have undergone. These initial “Boxes” of the Eighties will go on to create the template of future work and the artist’s relationship to other materials.