About

With a passion for wood and metal, Rukhadze gravitates towards experimenting with naturally and purposefully distressed textures within their work. This interest in the natural aging process leads them to highlight cracks and knots in wood, or intentionally rust metal, to explore the limits of their medium, celebrate the natural properties of their materials, and invoke feelings of nostalgia. Rukhadze also prioritizes using recycled materials within their work and utilizes these practices of celebration and reclamation to tell their own narrative. Born a queer American to a Georgian immigrant parent, Rukhadze has spent their life watching their family and their home country rebuild from the dissolution of the USSR while they find their place within it. By using reclaimed metal and wood much of Rukhadze’s work reflects on the restorative practice of reimagining both their home land, and their body, as a queer artist.

Lu Rukhadze is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago