MARIA RUGGIANO-ALEKSEEV

My work consists of abstract visuals of my “sickly” internal forms and systems, motivated by my personal experience with an ongoing digestive illness.
The concept is based on thoughts of seeing through my skin while my body is confronted by an illness, viewing the manipulation and decay of my organs and inner systems, or a picture of what my mind created from the physical pain.
Through the creative process for this work I experimented with a variety of surfaces for the prints such as various shades, textures and translucency of paper. Building up layers of latex over the prints has reinforced the idea of a skin, sheathing or casing becoming an outside layer of protection or a surface which is vulnerable and fragile yet keeps us sheltered, also leaving us unaware if our inner systems and internal organs are healthy and working correctly.
In conjunction with my prints I have created a series of sculptures and mixed media drawings. The ideas behind the sculptures are similar to the prints, yet I feel the dimensionality brings a human relationship between the object and viewer, as well as bringing forms from the inside out. The mixed media drawings are a more immediate and controlled medium for my expression.

I am also intrigued by the concept of hybridization; the fusing of biological forms questioning the ideas of crossbreeding, creating the unknown and unfamiliar.

I cannot deny a sexual apprehension or the presence of feminine characteristics surrounding my work, which while not intended, are rather apparent, as a result of my being a female artist, with thoughts and concern about asserting myself into a male dominated art world.

Bio
Maria Ruggiano-Alekseev is a mixed-media fine artist born and raised in Queens, New York. Maria graduated from Pratt Institute, NYC with a BFA in Fine Arts, specializing in Printmaking. She also holds two AAS degrees from The Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC in Photography and Advertising Design.
Maria’s artistic background is wide ranging; including photography, graphic design, multiple printmaking processes, and a broad spectrum of fine art mediums and techniques.
Maria has had a solo show recently in Staten Island, Sick at Open Art Surgery and Familiar Tempo at Paula Barr Gallery in Chelsea, NYC, in 2005 as well as several group shows in and all around the NYC area since 2001. Currently teaching art to children, Maria has also worked as a graphic designer and gallery/curatorial assistant at a variety of creative firms and art spaces including The Art Directors Club, Hope Street Gallery, Media Marketing Solutions and Screenvision, a Technicolor Company.