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Working across sculpture, installation, textiles, and text—often in collaboration—Ruck's projects begin from the possibilities of what sits beside a narrative: the companion plant that grows in relation rather than in rows, the five days that fall outside the Mayan calendar, the footnotes in Anzaldúa's Borderlands running untranslated between English, Spanish, and Nahuatl, or a landscape persisting as memory, projection, and desire long after the place has been left. She follows what moves through these things and what happens when they meet. There is humor and plurality in that space, in how a thing can hold many different relationships to a concept at once and stay alive through all of them.
Ruck holds an MFA in Sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki (FI) and a BFA in Video Game Art & Design from the Illinois Institute of Art, Chicago (USA). She was part of the inaugural cohort of the Centre for Nordic Otherwise in Aarhus (DK), and has been an artist-in-residence at MORPHO Antwerp (BE) and Factum Arte in Madrid (ES). Her work has been supported by Arts Promotion Centre Finland, the Kone Foundation, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, and Culture Moves Europe.
Full Portfolio and CV available upon request.
EDUCATION
2024 | MFA Sculpture, Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki
Kuvanveisto, Kuvataideakatemia, Taideyliopisto | Helsinki (FI)
2007 | BFA Video Game Art & Design with focus on environments and level design
The Illinois Institute of Art: Chicago | Chicago, IL (USA)
MENTORSHIPS
2026 | International Mentorship Programme — with Michael Birchall
Kuvataideakatemia, Taideyliopisto | Helsinki (FI)
2025 | Inaugural Cohort, Cycle 1 — with Myriam Diatta
The Centre of Nordic Otherwise | Aarhus (DK)
SOLO | TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2027 Sundogs, Zane Bennett Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM (USA)
2026 Sinä olet toinen minäni / You are my other I / Eres mi otro yo, Lou Galleria, Helsinki (FI)
2026 hevoset karkaa / the horses are fleeting, Studio at Galleria Sculptor, Helsinki (FI)
2024 Idioglossia, Södervik Gallery, Helsinki (FI) two-person exhibition with AJ Fusco
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2027 Provisional Grounds, Van Abbehuis, Eindhoven (NL)
2026 Another Name for Beauty, curator Sakari Tervo, Pitted Dates, Helsinki (FI)
2026 The Moon and the Sixpence, curator Ginko Hsu, Galleria Kuu-si, Helsinki (FI)
2025 Synzoochory, curator Nina Liebenberg, University of Helsinki Physicum Bdg, Helsinki (FI)
2025 Evenfall, curated by Earthbound Lovers, Diakonissalaitos, Helsinki (FI)
2025 The Day It Rains Jellyfish, curated by Text My Sister, Light Harvesting Complex, Vantaa (FI)
2025 Farther Returns, Andromeda 8220, Aarhus (DK)
2025 Where the River Remembers, Palais Kesselstatt, Trier (DE)
2025 The Turn, Vapaan Taiteen Tila, Helsinki (FI)
2024 Echoes of Home, curator Farhia Omer of Ruskeat Tytöt, Cultural Centre Stoa, Helsinki (FI)
2024 Wikipedia, curated by Joonas Pulkkinen, Asbestos, Helsinki (FI)
2024 Umbra, curated by Earthbound Lovers, VTT, Helsinki (FI)
2024 Precarious Lives | Drifts Festival, curator Soko Hwang, Suomenlinna, Helsinki (FI)
2024 Gatherings, curated by Isabela Hueara Carneiro & Elif Erdogan, Musiikkitalo, Helsinki (FI)
2024 Kuvan Kevät, curator Tuomo Rainio, Kuoppa "The Pit", Helsinki (FI)
2023 Things left in between, curators Isabela Hueara Carneiro & Elif Erdogan, VTT, Helsinki (FI)
2023 HEL<>NEU, Akademie der Bildenden Künste Galerie, Nürnberg (DE)
2023 Open, Hyytiälä Forest Station, Hyytiälä (FI)
2023 Plots, Props, Stories of Unearthing, Det Jyske Kunstakademi, Aarhus (DK)
2022 *** (Asterisks), curator Marissa Fassano, form & concept, Santa Fe, NM (USA)
RESIDENCIES
2026 MORPHO, Antwerp (BE) and Nesse, Terneuzen (NL)
2025 Fluid Materialities, Trier (DE)
2024 Factum Arte, Madrid (ES)
2023 Academy of Fine Arts, Berlin (DE)
2022 Rule Gallery, Marfa, TX (USA)
AWARDS | GRANTS
2026 Culture Moves Europe | Mobility: Nesse working group of Alves, Martirosyan
2026 Arts Promotion Centre Finland | Project Grant: hevoset karkaa
2025 Finnish Cultural Foundation | Residency Grant: MORPHO
2024 Kone Foundation | The Bittersweet Acceptance That One Can Never Really Go Back Home
2024 Finnish Cultural Foundation | Thesis Grant: We learn the names of those we never knew
2024 Finnish Cultural Foundation | Mobility: Factum Arte working group Niinikoski, Vehviläinen
2024 University of the Arts Helsinki | Finland Scholarship Award
2023 Greta och Alfred Runebergs stiftelse | Thesis Grant: We learn the names of those we never knew
2023 University of the Arts Helsinki Foundation | Project Grant
2023 University of the Arts Helsinki | Finland Scholarship Award
PUBLICATIONS
2025 | Fluid Materialities. ISBN 978-3-00-084350-1.
“Footnotes,” pp. 48–71.
“Navigating without the Desire to Be Omniscient” (with Sadrie Alves), pp. 72–84.
2025 | “Residual Field.” In The Day It Rains Jellyfish. Text My Sister, pp. 27–29.
SELECTED PRESS
2025 | Erdemir, Çağla. “from artefacts to collaborative imagining: on the artistic practice of Kate Ruck.” In Fluid Materialities. Trier, pp. 224–231.
2024 | Haapavaara, Louna. “Viitteitä mittakaavasta / References of Scale.” Nyyh. Online review.
2023 | Carneiro, Isabela Hueara & Erdogan, Elif. “Walking Two Worlds.” In Things left in between. Helsinki, pp. 9–10.
2022 | Curreri, Amanda. “Art, With an Asterisk.” Hyperallergic. Online review.
TALKS, WORKSHOPS, AND PRESENTATIONS
2026 | Reimagining data work from extraction to expertise — Speculative design workshop on AI training futures at University of Helsinki (FI) supported by the Kone Foundation, L. Savolainen, R. Suviranta
2025 | Research Pavilion: In the Field — Artist talk & walkthrough Physicum Building, University of Helsinki (FI) supported by Aalto University, University of Helsinki & Uniarts
2025 | In Conversation: Navigating without the desire to be Omniscient — Artist talk with Sadrie Alves Gestaltung Hochschule Aula, Trier (DE) supported by Culture Moves Europe & Goethe-Institut
2023 | KuvA Research Days — Object Studies (presentation) University of the Arts Helsinki (FI)
ARTISTIC PRODUCTION | CULTURAL WORK
2014-2025 | Charles Ross Studio/Land Light Foundation, NY & NM (USA) | Studio/Project Manager
Coordinated fabrication for large-scale land-art and sculptural projects, oversaw logistics and institutional partnerships, and developed architectural models, prototypes, and project documentation. Co-led public engagement and interpretive programming.
2019–2020 | Camille Henrot Studio, New York (USA) | Studio Manager
Oversaw day-to-day studio operations and production pipelines for international exhibitions across a high volume of concurrent projects, managing the studio team, budgets, and contracts, editing studio writing, and overseeing documentation of the artist's body of work. Liaised with curators, galleries, and shipping agents, and traveled to lead installations to support the realization of new work and public presentations.
2010–2014 | Tara Donovan Studio, New York (USA) | Fabricator & 3D Modeler
Developed 3D models for commission proposals and structurally complex sculptural armatures, translating conceptual designs into modular, buildable physical form to accommodate the scale of the artist's work. Fabricated prototypes and exhibition-ready works for large-scale installations.
MEMBERSHIPS
Association of Finnish Sculpture, International Association of Art, Akava/TAKU, Kuvasto, Catalysti