A San Franciscan Trek Through Polynesia: Artist Ruby Fa'agau

To view the art of Ruby Fa'agau is to learn to appreciate the world anew. She understands and embraces bright colors, using them fearlessly. She enjoys people and extracts inspiration from various cultures. She immerses herself in the splendor of a sunrise or a sunset. And she has a wonderful sense of humor. These seemingly disparate elements, when blended, lend her images subtle layers of meaning.

Ruby Fa'agau's images are simple yet complex. The great jazz musician Charles Mingus said, "Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can play weird -- that's easy. What's hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple complicated is commonplace -- making the complicated simple, awesomely simple -- that's creativity." Her provocative painting "Saraswati" presents the Hindu goddess of art, music and literature seated on a swan in a body of water, plucking a stringed instrument and holding a book and beads. The shoreline is above her head - this is an aerial view of the goddess - and the features of her face are indiscernible, though one is strikingly aware of their presence. Her reflection in the water is placid, yet commanding in its presence.

A similarly provocative drawing is Ruby's "People Palm Trees," which at a cursory glance appears to be two palm trees leaning towards each other. Closer inspection reveals them to be two female figures holding their hair up to the sky, and reveling in the sun and vivid blues of the landscape.

One of the greatest challenges to creating an image is knowing what to put in and what to leave out. Ruby confronts this challenge head-on, and eagerly seeks out new ways to convey her stories and create new experiences for the viewer. I sat down with her to discuss her paintings and what's next on the horizon for her.

Q: Where do you find inspiration?

A. Ironically, pain. The struggle between work and school makes me creative, by fueling a desire for escape. I wish inspiration was something I could turn on.

Q: What is your earliest visual memory?

A. Probably a parent, my Mom. She spent a lot of time with us kids. My mom thinks I get most of my creativity from her side of the family.

Q: How long have you been an artist?

A. I've been making art even before grade school, since I was three or four. My mom used to read me stories and I would freehand the images. But I didn't start painting until I turned eighteen. I like to create images with narratives or stories. I'm very relationship-oriented.

Q: Who are some of your favorite artists?

A.: I love Van Gogh's thick painting style and his quirkiness. I also love the stories and artwork of Dr. Seuss. I love that his stories are simple as well as entertaining, and for people of all ages. His images are limber, smooth and curvy and the characters look very bouncy. Another one of my favorite painters is Ernie Barnes, who did the paintings on the show Good Times, including the ones that J. J. Walker's character stood in front of. He really seemed to know how to capture African-American features and vibes. He also has a way of capturing movement with grace. There's a painting of his that I particularly love of three girls double-Dutching jump rope. You can really see the movement.

Q: What types of stories would you like to narrate?

A: I'm interested in stories having to do with the Polynesian culture, which has strong oral histories and stories that go with each name. I like to hear stories about different places and people. Polynesian culture is very romantic and there are lots of great stories. I particularly like the story of Maui the fire god, who kidnapped fire from underneath the Earth and brought it to Earth for mankind. I would also like to create a fable, using Polynesian culture as inspiration.

Q. How would you say that the Polynesian matrilineal tradition has influenced you as an artist?

A. I think that it has enabled me to embrace all of myself. There's something I love about a powerful woman who can accept the less attractive qualities of herself in addition to the attractive ones; who are unapologetic. This has been very empowering for me. Examples of female deities like this would include Kali, Medusa and the Hawaiian Pele. Pele is a particularly good example of a goddess who embodies attractive as well as less attractive attributes. She possesses nurturing and creative sides in addition to a fiery temperament. One of my favorite images that I have made is of two girls holding up their hair and standing on the beach. I made sure to give them substantial hips, with coarse, palm-tree hair. I was trying to convey a stronger acceptance of a bigger beauty.

Art for me is a way for me to explore my Polynesian heritage. This is a milestone for me because I feel as if I'm making peace with who I am. I am combining my San Franciscan identity with my Polynesian heritage (both Tongan and Samoan), and the racial and lifestyle tolerance of San Francisco has further enabled me to do that

Q: What role would you say spirituality plays in your art?

A. I think it used to be a hindrance for me because I wasn't sure I could illustrate it, because of a lack of willingness to explore. I was raised Christian and beforehand I thought I couldn't make images outside of Christianity. As I grow older and more philosophical, and make my spirituality more personal, I think I'm blossoming as an artist. Painting deities from other religions has been particularly therapeutic for me.

Q: Can we talk about the interrelationship of commerce and art? How are you approaching this on a personal level?

A. There's a nauseating feeling I get when I think of commercializing art. But I've been making more peace with it. When I speak to artists who are involved and proactive with it, I find it very liberating.

Q. You recently opened a Café Press shop, and your images seem to translate unusually well to graphic media. Do you anticipate any other such projects in the future?

A. The projects I'm anticipating are collaborations with other artists. I'm particularly interested in grassroots artistic projects. I recently wandered into a thrift store with a friend and was surprised to find an art show there. There were drawings thumbtacked to a wall. We both loved the unlikely combination of thrift store and gallery. On the way out of the store we spotted an advertisement for another gallery show. So my ambition is to eventually unveil a series of my paintings in an unusual and impromptu venue. I'm also collaborating with a friend of mine who makes monster dolls. I want to write short stories about the dolls and maybe work on a comic book about them as well.

Source:

Interview with Ruby Fa'agau

Ruby's Cafe Press shop: http://www.cafepress.com/Uasami