August 6, 2024
Ruben Castillo is a visual artist and educator investigating themes of intimacy, queerness, archival history, and the body using a range of media including print, drawing, installation, sculpture, and video. His most recent imagery draws from photographs and documents, seeing the ordinary as a site for transformative potentials and connections. Castillo’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally and has been collected widely, both publicly and privately. In 2023 he received the Charlotte Street Foundation Visual Art Award and was a finalist for the 21C Kansas City Artadia Award. Ruben was born in Dallas, TX, and received his MFA in Visual Art from the University of Kansas and a BFA in Printmaking from the Kansas City Art Institute. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Printmaking in the Department of Art at Skidmore College.
My main project was focusing on using a variety of print-based techniques to investigate new ways of engaging with archival subject-matter. Initially, I wanted to explore a large variety of materials, but pivoted once I got to the shop and saw everything. I took the approach of this being an experimental research residency seriously. I wanted to get my hands on materials to change and have more control in the ways I could transform it. In the end, I worked with IEA staff to create 10 inkjet prints, 4 photopolymer plates, and 3 large laser-engraved woodcuts (including a CMYK run on the offset press). I found the experience freeing and crucial to helping me generate new ideas and associations.
Ruben wiping a photogravure plate.
Ruben pulling a photogravure print.
The Joy of Love, photogravure w/ roll-over work sample.
Ruben inking the final block of a four-color woodcut.
Ruben operating the Stienmesse and Stolberg Flatbed Offset Press.
Ruben checking the impression.
Pieces (Summer Set), Four-color Woodcut Work Sample.
Run 2: Pieces (Summer Set)