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Sofia Ruiz
Sofía Ruíz, is a Latin American artist whose practice blends realism with dense, textured surfaces to explore the emotional and psychological dimensions of memory, identity, and otherness. Her work has been featured in institutions such as the MEAM in Barcelona, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the Costa Rican Art Museum, and the Mosam Art Museum in South Korea.
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About the artist
Sofia Ruiz
About
Sofía Ruíz, is a Latin American artist whose practice blends realism with dense, textured surfaces to explore the emotional and psychological dimensions of memory, identity, and otherness. Her work has been featured in institutions such as the MEAM in Barcelona, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the Costa Rican Art Museum, and the Mosam Art Museum in South Korea.
Statement
My work explores trauma, fear, and fragmented memory through dark surreal worlds inhabited by monsters. Shaped by my mother’s amnesia, I grew up feeling like an outsider within my own family, a sense of disconnection that appears in my paintings through solitary children and dreamlike spaces. I imagine trauma as a visible presence beside us: unsettling yet familiar, a reflection of ourselves. At the center of my practice is the domestication of terror, the process of learning to live with our fears rather than erase them. In my work, monsters and children coexist as silent companions, revealing how vulnerability, isolation, and trauma can become sources of authenticity, resilience, and transformation.
Education
- 2020Master's in Educational Management with an Emphasis in Leadership, UNA, CR
- 2008Bachelor of Fine Arts with a specialization in Engraving, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Costa Rica, CR
- 2007Bachelor of Fine Arts with a specialization in Painting, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Costa Rica, CR., CR
Exhibitions
Solo
- 2025Fabula, Matices Gallery, Escazu, Costa Rica
- 2024Rastros, Talentum Gallery , San Jose , Costa Rica
- 2023Make-Believe, C&C Gallery , SJ, Costa Rica
- 2022Imaginary, ConArte Gallery , San Jose , Costa Rica
- 2017Solo Print Show, University of Costa Rica , SJ, Costa Rica
- 2014Fictions, Allegro Gallery , Panama City , Panama
- 2013On and Off, Giamart Gallery , Benevento , Italy
- 2013I am the others, Central Bank Museum, SJ, Costa Rica
- 2010The Garden , Patrajdas Contemporary Art Gallery, Chicago, USA
- 2009Red, Lazaro Gallery, Sj, CR
Group
- 2026CAN Art Fair Madrid , Klaus Steinmetz Contemporary Art , Madrid , Spain
- 2026BADAFF, Verduyn Gallery, Belgium
- 2026Art Herning Kunstmesse, Space Gallery , Herning, Denmark
- 2025-2026Silent Witness, Verduyn Gallery , Belgium
- 2025Kust for Alle, Space Gallery , Herning , Denmark
- 2025Timeless Art , Blacklight Art Gallery , Valencia , Spain
- 2025Bold and Emotional , Space Gallery , Kolding, Denmark
- 2025Paradojas, Calderon Guardia Museum, SJ, CR
- 2024Weird, El Aleph Cultural Center, SJ, CR
- 2024Internacional Finalist Painting Exhibition, Almenara Art Prize 2024, Real Circulo de la Amistad, Cordoba, Spain
- 20242da Edition Croma Bienal 2024, Matices Gallery, SJ, CR
- 2024Finalist Exhibition Women in Art Prize 2024, Roundhouse, London, UK
- ModPortrait 2023 , MEAM, (European Museum of Modern Art), Barcelona, Spain
- 2024The Tropics, Modern Eden Gallery , San Francisco , USA
- 2023Efigies, Museo Regional de San Ramón, SJ, CR
- 2019Extraña Infancia, MAC Costa Rican Art Museum, SJ, CR
- 2017SOFA Art Fair, Maria Elena Kravetz Gallery, Chicago , USA
- 2016figuration y Abstracción, Allegro Gallery , Panama, Panama
- 201311th World Cultural Art Symposium, The Mosan Art Museum, South Korea
- 2013Collective Fictions, Palais de Tokyo,, Paris , France
Recognition
Awards, prizes & residencies
- 2025Artist of the Future, Winner in the 2024 VAA Scholarship Award, VAA
- 2025Award for Best Solo Exhibition in a Private Gallery, AICA (International Association of Art Critics)
- 2024Overall Winner VAO, VAA
- 2024Winner of Women in Art Prize, Best Overseas Artist, Women in Art
- 2023First Place, 9th Edition of the Boynes Artist Award, Boynes Artist Award
- 2013Artist in Residence at the 11th World Symposium on Art and Culture,, Mosam Art Museum
- 2010Artist in Residence at the Intaglio Print Workshop, led by Graciela Buratti, BA, Argentina.
- 2008Artist in Residence at the Experimental Printmaking Institute (EPI), Lafayette College,Easton, PA, USA.
Press & publications
- 2024“La pintura más reciente de Sofía Ruiz transita entre lo siniestro y lo sublime”,, Ancora La Nación
- 2023“Artist Sofia Ruiz” Interview, Boynes Artist Award,, Chantal Boynes
- 2026Why Sofía Ruiz sews real thread into the eyes of her oil painted figures, Arts to Hearts
Collections holding work
- The Christian Levett Collection, FAMM Museum (Femmes Artistes du Musée de Mougins), Mougins, France
- Salon of Former Presidents, Legislative Assembly, SJ, CR
- Mosam Art Museum, South Korea
- Central Bank Museum , Costa Rica
- International Quarterly of the Arts and Culture SALMAGUNDI, New York , USA
- Experimental Printmaking Institute, PA, USA
- Nationa Gallery, SJ, CR
- Banco Proamerica , SJ, COSTA RICA
- Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), SJ, CR
- University of Costa Rica , SJ, CR