Established in 2020, Cucuy.Studio is the directory and project space for interdisciplinary artist Ricardo Vícente Jose Ruiz (b.1992, Corpus Christi,TX). They are a Southwestern artist whose work synthesizes Indigenous folklore and ecological practices as a foundation to discuss socio-political corruption in the Americas. Grounded in research, personal memoir, and the philosophical teachings of Curanderísmo (Mexican faith healing), Ricardo initiates a conversation as to how healing manifests in the 21th century.
With a studio practice rooted in drawing; works manifest in traditional media, publication, and community based curatorial projects pointed towards deconstructing difficult histories navigated via marginalized groups affected by colonialism. Their intention is to disseminate an intersectional dialogue that accesses past, present, and future timelines to locate modes for metaphysical reconciliation.
The imagery expands on a speculative fiction the artist is developing in which a post nuclear fallout environment is consumed with the latent instinct of organisms who survived as a result of radical mutation. Through allegory the characters mirror and preserve an ethnographic history of indigenous communities throughout the Americas whose routine emphasized biodiversity.