Ginny Ruffner
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ginny Carol Ruffner (née Martin; June 21, 1952 – January 20, 2025) was an American
glass art Glass art refers to individual works of art that are substantially or wholly made of glass. It ranges in size from monumental works and installation pieces to wall hangings and windows, to works of art made in studios and factories, including gl ...
ist based in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, Washington. She is known for her use of the
lampworking Lampworking is a type of glasswork in which a Blowtorch, torch or lamp is used to melt the glass. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with tools and hand movements. It is also known as flameworking or torchworking, ...
(or flameworking) technique and for her use of
borosilicate glass Borosilicate glass is a type of glass with silica and boron trioxide as the main glass-forming constituents. Borosilicate glasses are known for having very low coefficients of thermal expansion (≈3 × 10−6 K−1 at 20 °C), ma ...
in her painted glass sculptures. Many of her ideas begin with drawings. Her works also include pop-up books, large-scale public art, and
augmented reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...
. Ruffner was named a Master of the Medium by the James Renwick Alliance in 2007. Ruffner was elected as a Fellow of the
American Craft Council The American Craft Council (ACC) is a national non-profit organization that champions craft based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1943 by Aileen Osborn Webb, the council hosts national craft shows and conferences, publishes a quarterly m ...
in 2010. She received The Glass Art Society's Lifetime Award in 2019.


Early life

Ruffner was born on June 21, 1952, in
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
. Her father was an FBI agent, and her mother was a typing teacher.


Career

Ruffner studied at
Furman University Furman University is a private university in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1826 and named after Baptist pastor Richard Furman, the Liberal arts college, liberal arts university is the oldest private institution of higher l ...
in
Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...
, and Winthrop College in
Rock Hill, South Carolina Rock Hill is the most populous city in York County, South Carolina, United States, and the List of municipalities in South Carolina, 5th-most populous city in the state. It is also the 4th-most populous city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, be ...
, before transferring to the
University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...
. There she received a BFA in Drawing and Painting in 1974 and an MFA in Drawing and Painting in 1975. In a twentieth century art history course, Ruffner saw '' The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass)'', a glass painting by
Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...
. It inspired her to begin painting on glass. Following graduation, one of Ruffner's first jobs was working for Hans Godo Frabel as an apprentice lamp worker, creating glass animals. In 1984, Ruffner relocated to
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, Washington, where she taught the first flameworking class at Pilchuck Glass School. There she introduced the use of
borosilicate glass Borosilicate glass is a type of glass with silica and boron trioxide as the main glass-forming constituents. Borosilicate glasses are known for having very low coefficients of thermal expansion (≈3 × 10−6 K−1 at 20 °C), ma ...
. Ruffner was the first woman in the United States to create sculptures with
borosilicate glass Borosilicate glass is a type of glass with silica and boron trioxide as the main glass-forming constituents. Borosilicate glasses are known for having very low coefficients of thermal expansion (≈3 × 10−6 K−1 at 20 °C), ma ...
, which is commonly used in the manufacture of scientific glassware. In
lampworking Lampworking is a type of glasswork in which a Blowtorch, torch or lamp is used to melt the glass. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with tools and hand movements. It is also known as flameworking or torchworking, ...
or flameworking, a torch or lamp is used to melt glass, which is then blown and shaped with tools and by hand movements to create a sculptural form. Ruffner further developed her sculptures by painting them and by combining the lampworked glass with metals and other materials. By using a hard glass and working at higher temperatures, Ruffner was able to create much larger lampworked pieces. Through Ruffner's work, lampworking was first recognized as a medium for fine art. Ruffner's series "Aesthetic Engineering: The Imagination Cycle" of sculptures was inspired by genetic engineering and the sharing of plant and animal genes. It was described as "an exuberant installation of glass, steel and bronze depicting explosive flowers, massive leaves and twisted growing vines". The exhibition has travelled extensively. One of her public art projects, "Urban Garden" (2011), is a 27-foot high metal flowerpot, with flowers and moving petals, in downtown Seattle. The sculpture is also a kinetic water feature. In ''Reforestation of the Imagination'' (2018) she combined sculpture in glass and bronze with
augmented reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...
, so that digital images of imagined creatures could be overlaid on sculptural works.


Works

Through the use of
lampworking Lampworking is a type of glasswork in which a Blowtorch, torch or lamp is used to melt the glass. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with tools and hand movements. It is also known as flameworking or torchworking, ...
she has developed a distinctive style, creating glass sculptures, mixed media installations and works of public art that are known for being "opulent, figurative, richly colored and metaphorical". Ruffner's first solo exhibition was at Georgia Tech Gallery in Atlanta in 1984, followed by solo and group exhibitions at museums such as the
Corning Museum of Glass The Corning Museum of Glass is a museum in Corning (city), New York, Corning, New York, United States, dedicated to the art, history, and science of glass. It was founded in 1951 by Corning Incorporated, Corning Glass Works and currently has a ...
;
Museum of Arts and Design The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the ...
; Museum of Glass; Museum of Northwest Art;
Renwick Gallery The Renwick Gallery is a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum located in Washington, D.C. that displays American craft and decorative arts from the 19th to 21st century. The gallery is housed in a National Historic Landmark building that ...
of the
Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...
;
Toledo Museum of Art The Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo, Ohio. It houses a collection of more than 30,000 objects. With 45 galleries, it covers 280,000 square feet and is currently in th ...
; and Seattle's Traver Gallery, among others. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass,
Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art is an art museum in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The museum was originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was formerly located ...
, Cooper-Hewitt Museum, Corning Museum of Glass,
Detroit Institute of Art The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is a museum institution located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It has list of largest art museums, one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it cove ...
, Fort Wayne Museum of Art;
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
;
New Mexico Museum of Art The New Mexico Museum of Art is an art museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe governed by the state of New Mexico, United States. It is one of four state-run museums in Santa Fe that are part of the Museum of New Mexico. It is located one bloc ...
;
Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The museum operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in ...
, and the
Smithsonian Museum of American Art The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...
. Her work is included in the United States
Art in Embassies Program Art in Embassies, an office within the U.S. Department of State, promotes cultural diplomacy through exhibitions, permanent collections, site-specific commissions and two-way artist exchanges in more than 200 U.S. Embassies and Consulates around the ...
. She was profiled on the NPR show ''
Weekend America ''Weekend America'' was a weekly public radio program dealing with news, popular culture, the arts and more. The program was produced for American Public Media and hosted by John Moe in Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated S ...
'' on March 18, 2006. She was the subject of a documentary, ''Ginny Ruffer: A Not So Still Life'' (2010), which won the Golden Space Needle Award - Best Documentary at the
Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and feature ...
that year.


Personal life and death

In 1975, she married Charles Emory Nail, divorced in 1980, and married Robert Edward Ruffner later that year. Entering her thirties, Ginny Ruffner scored high enough on an
IQ test An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. Originally, IQ was a score obtained by dividing a person's mental age score, obtained by administering ...
to be accepted to Mensa and
Intertel Intertel is a high-IQ society founded in 1966 that is open to those who have scored at or above the 99th percentile, or the top one percent, on a standardized test of intelligence. It has been identified as one of the notable high-IQ societies ...
, two high-IQ societies. In 1991, Ruffner was involved in a life-threatening three-car collision. She was in a coma for five weeks. When she finally recovered consciousness, she could not speak, walk, or remember that she was an artist. Doctors doubted that she would walk or talk again. But after a year of extensive physical, speech, and vision therapy, Ruffner was able to return to work. She credits her recovery to being "stubborn and bullheaded". She spent the next five years in a wheelchair, but eventually was able to walk again. The accident left her with speech and mobility issues. She rediscovered her own work, in part through the book ''Why Not?: The Art of Ginny Ruffner'' (1995) and then revisioned it, juxtaposing materials in ways that balanced "beauty with danger". Ginny Ruffner died at her home on January 20, 2025, at the age of 72.


References


Further reading

*


External links


Personal website

Profile on AskArt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruffner, Ginny 1952 births 2025 deaths 20th-century American women artists 20th-century American artists Artists from Atlanta Furman University alumni American glass artists American women glass artists University of Georgia alumni Fellows of the American Craft Council Mensans 21st-century American women artists 21st-century American artists