2007 01-30 Huntington 15x15.jpg
2007 01-30 Huntington 15x15.jpg

Bio


Meet Erica Rukin

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Bio


Meet Erica Rukin

Erica Rukin’s Art Collection is a lasting legacy of her lifelong passion of putting brush to canvas. Erica Rukin began her art education as a young girl at the Norton Gallery School of Art in West Palm Beach.  Later, during collegiate years, she quickly learned the only boundaries in art were ones that were self-imposed. 

After graduating with honors from University of Florida’s College of Architecture and Fine Arts, Erica explored mediums and worked primarily with collage, then switched to figurative painting in oils.  She changed from oils to acrylics and from figure painting to non-objective abstract.  Rukin explained, "My figures were becoming more and more distorted and I was excited about the fact that art allows painters to take these kinds of liberties, not having to follow conventional parameters."

The logical progression for Rukin’s paintings was to go from these foreshortened, semi-abstract figures to non-objective creations. In the world of abstraction, she challenged the viewer to accept the fact that this type of expression has to be taken on its own terms, rather than fitting into a specific box of traditional painting.  Rather, it is all about creating dynamics such as temperature or special relationships of color. Using instinct as her guide, Rukin approached painting without plans.  Her work is contemporary, both in color and design.  As each of her opus of works progressed, her artistic intuition took control and she eventually made choices about which spontaneous drips, marks or textures flavored the piece. 

Erica’s process was unstructured, impulsive and brilliant. She described her methods saying, "The whole approach is quite unprompted, similar to a jazz musician jamming out the notes.  The paint and I harmonize with a compatible and respectful duet that guides each painting to its own destiny."

Throughout decades, Erica Rukin’s work has been exhibited throughout the country.  Numerous galleries represent her collections and private art connoisseurs throughout North America hold her works.

Erica Rukin’s beautiful life was cut short by Pancreatic Cancer. She was a warrior in life and left behind treasured stories, left to interpretation, in her artwork to be appreciated for generations to come.