Using discarded materials from maquiladoras, the large factories that resulted from the implementation of NAFTA, Tijuana-based artist Jaime Ruiz Otis creates minimal installations and sculptures that address the economic
and cultural reality unique to life on the border between the United States and Mexico. In search of materials and inspiration Ruiz Otis regularly trolls the factories' dumpsters. He finds a surprising array of objects and makes it his mission to elicit beauty and metaphor from the waste material.

These "rescued" objects are then transformed by the artist into inventive sculptural installations. The minimalist aesthetic of his work prevents it from being framed under the category of "border art" or, more importantly, re-invents the aesthetic strategies of this type of art and proposes new and relevant subjects to address in visual culture.

Ruiz Otis is the first recipient of MCASD's annual stART Up Award . The award was launched by stART Up, one of the Museum's affiliate groups for young professionals, and created to honor regional artists of exceptional promise.

Cerca Series: Jaime Ruiz Otis is made possible by the Museum's stART Up members.