Education:
2019 MFA, Stony Brook University
2012 BS Fine Art, Hofstra University
Gallery Representation:
Marquee Projects. Bellport, NY
Solo/Two Person Exhibitions:
2026 Terra Solarium, Method Gallery, Seattle, WA (forthcoming)
2025 Fresh Relics, Marquee Projects. Bellport, NY
2024 ( ((elapse)) ), The Vestibule. Seattle, WA
2023 Sheol, The Museum of the Southwest. Midland, TX
That Tomb that Knows No Sound, Marquee Projects. Bellport, NY
2019 Science Faction, Patchogue Arts Council. Patchogue, NY
2018 Museum of the Last Fluidicists, Lawrence Alloway Gallery, Stony Brook University. Stony Brook, NY
Plasticization Clinic II, Figment NYC. Governors Island, New York, NY
Plasticization Clinic, Lawrence Alloway Gallery, Stony Brook University. Stony Brook, NY
2012 Stuffing, Hofstra University. Hempstead, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2025 Title TBD, Pollock Krasner House and Study Center, Easthampton, NY (forthcoming)
Pacific Northwest Conceptual Art Center 75th Anniversary Retrospective, Littman Gallery; Portland State University, Portland, Oregon
2024 Long Island Biennial, Heckscher Museum of Art. Huntington, NY
Visual Culture 2024, Czong Institute of Contemporary Art Museum. South Korea
The Rains are Changing Fast: New Acquisitions in Context, Heckscher Museum of Art. Huntington, NY
Time Capsule, The Vestibule. Seattle, WA
2023 Now: As a Consequence of Fact, Pen + Brush. New York, NY
Facing the Bay, Bellport Brookhaven Historical Society. Bellport, NY
Sculpture on the Trail, CEED Center for Environmental Education & Discovery. Brookhaven, NY
Viewfinders: Photographers Frame Nature, Heckscher Museum of Art. Huntington, NY
2022 Long Island Biennial, Heckscher Museum of Art. Huntington, NY
The Button Experiment, LI MOCA. Patchogue, NY
The Nature of the Future, Belmont University. Nashville, TN
2021 Suffolk County Community College Faculty Art Exhibition, Brentwood, NY
Pathological Landscapes, Marquee Projects. Bellport, NY
NEW FUTURE, Art Industra. Brno, Czech Republic
eARTh- Artist/Activists, Southampton Arts Center. Southampton, NY
Winter Salon, Marquee Projects, Bellport, NY
Home: Far and Near, Gallery North. Setauket, NY
2020 Long Island Biennial, Heckscher Art Museum. Huntington, NY
Dyscorpia 2.1, Enterprise Square Galleries. Edmonton, Alberta, CA
HUA QUAN 2019, Art League Student Gallery, LIU Post. Brookville, NY
AWMAS Conference Exhibition, UC Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara, CA
Feral, The Blockhouse. D’Nasco Studio. Havana, Cuba
2019 Nature, Gallery Serendip. Kobe Design University. Hyogo, Japan
Secondary Transformations, South Project Space. Stony Brook, NY
Fold. Fragment. Forum., MFA Thesis Exhibition. Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery. Stony Brook, NY
Professional Experience:
2024-present Director of Research and Operations, Future Histories Studio, Stony Brook, NY
2021-2024 Director & Curator, Sagtikos Art Gallery, Suffolk County Community College. Brentwood, NY
2020-2022 Curatorial Fellow, Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, NY
2017-2019 Curatorial Assistant, Simons Center Gallery, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
Curatorial Projects:
2023 Intertwined: Facets of Grief and Mourning. Sagtikos Art Gallery. Brentwood, NY
Natural Artifact. Sagtikos Art Gallery. Brentwood, NY
Range of Mourning. Sagtikos Art Gallery. Brentwood, NY
2022 SCCC Faculty Exhibition. Sagtikos Art Gallery. Brentwood, NY
Bodies Object. Sagtikos Art Gallery. Brentwood, NY
The Case for Memory. Sagtikos Art Gallery. Brentwood, NY
2021 Tomashi Jackson: The Land Claim. Parrish Art Museum. Water Mill, NY
XS. Parrish Art Museum. Water Mill, NY
2019 Paradigm Shift. South Space Projects. Stony Brook, NY
Teaching Experience:
2020-present
Stony Brook University. Stony Brook, NY
Introduction to Digital Media: History and Theory, Foundations of Drawing, Ideas and Form, The Creative Process, Art in the Anthropocene, Art and Science, Intro to Digital Art History, Ideas and Form, Foundations of Drawing, The Creative Process
2019-2023
Suffolk County Community College. Brentwood, NY
Art Appreciation, Intro to Digital Photography, Drawing I
2021
St. Joseph’s University. Patchogue, NY. Art as Communication
Departmental/ University Service:
2021-2023 Visual Art Club Advisor, Suffolk County Community College
2020 Charles C. Bergman Visiting Professor Search Committee, Stony Brook University
Grants and Awards:
2023 Dr. W. Burghardt Turner Fellowship
Huntington Arts Council Community Impact Micro Grant
2021 The Puffin Foundation Ltd. Creative Arts Grant
NYFA/NYSCA Decentralization Grant
2020 Foundation for Contemporary Art- FCA Emergency Grant
NYFA Tri-State Relief Grant
Artist Relief Grant, ArtistRelief.org
2019 Stony Brook University Art Department Travel Grant
Graduate Student Union Professional Development Fellowship
2018 Maurice M. and Miriam H. Goldberger Fellowship
Conference Presentations and Artist Talks:
2025 “Soft Bodies in the Dark: On Invisible Labors and Tender Ecologies.” Worms for Brains: CUNY Graduate Center (forthcoming)
“The Sacred Underground: Earthworms, Belonging, and the American Mythos.” Taboo-Transgression-Transcendence in Art & Science Conference. Ljubljana, Slovenia
Native/Invasive: Topics in Ecology and Human Culture. The Watermill Center. Water Mill, NY
2024 “My Body is Underground: Soundscaping the Subterranean.” Not a Luxury. ASAP/15. New York, NY
“Shifting Soils: God, Labor, and the Nightcrawler.” International Symposium of Visual Culture. Presented by the CICA Museum. Silver Spring, MD
“Climate Trauma and Geologic Memory of the Llano Estacado.” 20th Annual Graduate Symposium in the History of Art & Architecture. University of Oregon. Eugene. OR
2023 “From Wasteland to Resource: Forcing Fertility in the Llano Estacado.” Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) and The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS) Biennial Conference. Portland, OR
“Invasive Engineers: Earthworm Labor and the American Landscape.” 5th Biennial Living with Animals Conference. Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY
2022 “The GLEI Inc. Projects: Progression to a Postnatural Body.” Future Bodies New Media Caucus and Symposium. Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
“God, Labor and Earthworms: Tracing Toil Through the Sounds of the Subterranean.” AAH 48th Annual Conference. Goldsmiths University, London, UK
2021 “Our Watchmen are Blind: An Investigation of Subterranean Labor.” POST SENSORIUM: RIXC Art Science Festival and Open Fields Conference. The Latvian National Museum of Art. Riga, Latvia
“Our Watchmen are Blind.” Grounding: Cultural and Educational Project. Dokuchaev Central Museum of Soil. St. Petersburg, Russia
“Invaders Underfoot: Nightcrawlers and Nanoplastics.” CAA: College Art Association 109th Annual Conference. New York, NY
2020 “The Plasticization of Privilege.” Taboo-Transgression-Transcendence in Art & Science, University of Applied Arts. Vienna, Austria
2019 “Plastic Lifeworlds: An Investigation of Nonhuman Labor.” Open Fields 2019: UN/GREEN: Naturally Artificial Intelligences, The 4th Open Fields conference on Artistic Research, Science and Technologies and RIXC Art Science Festival, The Latvian National Museum of Art. Riga, Latvia
2018 “The Practicality of Plasticization.” Future (Im)Perfect, UC Berkeley Comparative Literature Conference. Berkeley, CA
Residencies:
2025 Santa Fe Art Institute. Santa Fe, NM
2024 Vashon Artist Residency, Vashon Island, WA
2023 Women's International Study Center. Santa Fe, NM
2022 Artist-in-Residence, Museum of the Southwest. Midland, TX
Santa Fe Art Institute. Santa Fe, NM
2020 I-Park International Artist in Residence Program. East Haddam, CT
2019 Vermont Studio Center. Johnson, VT
Hua Quan Art Village Cultural Exchange. Nanchang, China
2018 Art Ayatana Research Residency: Submerge. Ontario, CA
Guerrilla Science- ArtSci Residency, New York, NY
Publications:
2025 Ruiz, L. Invaders of the Underground: The Nightcrawler and the Nonnative. Turbulence: New Media Art 2025, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art
Ruiz, L. (in press). Sacred Soil: Worms, Wilderness, and the Theology of Conquest. Matter Matters: On the Aesthetics and Politics of Soil. Manchester University Press
Podcasts and Press:
2024
“Inner Rhythm:Lauren Ruiz: Rethinking the Natural World”
The Art Pod: Lauren Ruiz
The Art Pod: Lauren Ruiz, Part 2
2023
A Gorgeous Exhibition About the Bay Debuts, LI Advance. September 21
West Texas ‘Religion’ on Display at Museum of the Southwest. Midland Reporter-Telegram. June 7
2021
When Artists are Activists: Earth Day Exhibition at SAC, Sag Harbor Express. April 15
2020
'Feralʼ in Estudio D’Nasco: More Than an Exhibition, an Ecosystem, Rialta Magazine.
2019
A Class of Their Own, Newsday, LI Arts. March 29
2018
Islip Art Museum Welcomes MFA Students, Islip Bulletin. June 7
2017
Greenpoint TREMORS: Political & Social Reactions. Greenpointers August 17
Permanent Collections:
Heckscher Art Museum. Huntington, NY
Parrish Art Museum. Water Mill, NY
LI MOCA. Patchogue, NY
Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery. Stony Brook, NY
Watermill Center. Water Mill, NY
Multiple private collections