Rusty Scruby: Playing in the Sand

Rusty Scruby: Playing in the Sand
Art Museum of Southeast Texas
April 24 – July 11, 2010

The 19 analytically derived two and three-dimensional works included in this exhibition demonstrate the perfect balance Scruby achieves by blending his learned abilities in math and music with art. Using a series of repetitious photographs, drawings, paper or plastic, he cuts, folds and weaves together complex constructions.

Much of Scruby’s artwork in this exhibition is based on his childhood living on Kwajalein Island, a secret U.S. military base in the middle of the South Pacific, where he developed a curiosity and love of the ocean. He went on to study aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University and then music composition at the University of North Texas, Denton. Scruby has no formal art training other than working in a design studio with ceramics and porcelain forms. He pieces together what he learned through his education and experiences to create innovative works of art.

Defining his work as sculpture, Scruby employs his engineering techniques to render surfaces that represent waves, ripples or bodies of water. Color, pattern and images are used to express musical harmonies, melodies and themes. Playing in the Sand, the title piece, and Beach Couple are two of Scruby’s latest developments – three-dimensional photographic reconstructions of globe and torpedo-shaped objects hanging from the ceiling that give viewers the opportunity to experience the work from every angle. Reef and Cube Network use precisely and repetitiously folded paper and plastic to abstractly illustrate the complexity of the ocean.

“Scruby translates the simple patterns of everyday life into complex and immersive mixed media constructions filled with both meaning and beauty,” said Jankauskas. “In essence, he is a magician, conjuring up a new way to see the world.”

Art Museum of Southeast Texas (AMSET)