Digital Portfolio
Bio-Inspired Design
Collaboration Application
My name is Alondra Ruiz-Hernandez, I am a Mexican Canadian cross-disciplinary artist based in London, England. I am keen to Collaborate with Bio-inspired Design. I recently completed an MA in Fine Art at UAL’s Chelsea College of Arts in 2020-2021 (graduating with First Class Honours). I completed a BFA in Drawing and Painting and minored in Social Sciences (I graduated from both with First Class Honours and Distinction) at OCAD University in Toronto, Canada. My interest in diverse cultures and passion for informed research helped me win a coveted place at OCAD University’s self-directed Florence Program, where I studied from 2017-2018. In 2017, I won a scholarship to study Chinese culture at Jiangnan University, China.
I have spent six years in academia expanding my knowledge of Fine Art. This work has made me extremely comfortable with understanding history as well as contemporary practises as well as working harmoniously and closely with others. My focus is in painting, fashion, textile patterns, installations, and photography.
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Working as a freelance cross-disciplinary artist I have been committed to contributing to the community and understanding the range of individual’s experience. I have worked on various projects. The following are a few selected examples:
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My dedication to my work has led me to participate in 37 national and international exhibitions, including three solo exhibitions, six large-scale festivals, and 14 juried exhibitions, eight international publications, a published paper along with an award in academic writing, and 20 awards in Fine Art. I have exhibited at the Archäologisches Museum Innsbruck, The British Library, The Bloomsbury Festival, MAFA International Festival, ‘LATE AT TATE’ Tate Britain, Toronto Biennial of Art, and Kitchener’s TheMuseum.
For three years (2022, 2017 and 2016) I acted as a juror for the Etobicoke School of Arts (ESA), Canada. Additionally, from 2015-2017, I worked in ESA’s summer programs to help build portfolios for prospective applicants.
In 2021 Arts & Humanities Faculty Representative for Goodenough College. I was responsible for assigning chapters, explaining material, and conducting group discussions. I also planned and organised lecturers. I also worked with the co-chairs of student welfare at Goodenough College and gave them step-by-step art therapy tools to help students who are struggling with anxiety and/or their mental health.
Furthermore, in 2019 I teamed up with a like-minded institution and non-for-profit PERIOD (an organisation fighting to end period poverty and stigma) and was featured in their Instagram as an example of how imagery has the capacity to transform perceptions.
2018-2020, I executed the interviews, documentation, and promotion of the artwork of over 200 students via the University social media outlets. I was responsible for the documentation of events in or related to the university. Toronto, Canada.
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Textile Design
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I have participated in eight public panels including at Toronto Biennial of Art Unknowable Unknowing, Kitchener’s TheMuseum, OCAD University, and Goodenough College. On these panels, I have discussed topics ranging from my artistic practise to Cop26, climate change, politics, the de-stigmatising of menstruation, and period poverty, all from an artist’s perspective.
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My Mexican heritage, international academic pursuits, and living in England, Canada, Italy, and China have allowed me to not only study but exist and grow within various cultures and countries. I have learned how to be flexible and adapt to new circumstances. I am well versed in the “western” form of artistic making, however, thanks to my heritage and cultural studies at Jiangnan University, I can easily step outside the ‘Eurocentric frame of art making’. Mexicans have a particular way of existing within their environment that is rooted in the syncretism of Indigenous and European culture. Magical Realism permeates our artisans, literature, art and is integral to our reality. Offering me a range of understanding and inspiration to draw upon. I place an immense effort I put into every project I undertake, I fully intend to dedicate that same energy into Bio-Inspired Design.
Textile Design Printed & made into Clothing and Tablecloth
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Textile Design
The Identity Clothing Collection
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Additional Textile Design
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