ruby que

I got a model train set during my residency @ellisbeauregardfoundation and tried mounting a tiny projector on it. It felt silly at first, and then it clicked. A train that never arrives, a restless image. Must one keep on moving to survive? When in Maine I began to recognize an impulse in me to escape, to disappear, to become and remain invisible. This urge feels stronger than ever these days. “Travelogue II” is on view for the first time in Chicago thanks to @switchhookprojects @thisisaboutmysink . I’ve always loved S-H for its itinerant nature - how apt. Grateful to be paired with @raychelcarrion ’s gorgeously unsettling landscape drawings. Come traverse the unknown and unknowable terrains in “It Comes to Pass,” tonight from 6-9pm or during open hours till April 27. 3216 W Augusta Blvd. Photo by @dananielsenclark from almost two years ago Video documentation of “Travelogue I” - hastily shot during my last night in Rockland

Honored and frankly bewildered to be selected as a @luminartsculturalfoundation Fellow last night alongside @hai_wen_lin @arinorris.us , and shoutout to all the finalists who put up incredible work! Thanks to @franbound @000.dette @bit.map and everyone at Luminarts for the help getting my works up and running💡 Closer 2024 Digital projection, side view mirror As seen in By Bye Pilsen curated by @jona_mikosch and @philipp_groth , photographed by Jonas Our show is up till May 23 @mooneyfoundation ! I’m showing this and the train :)

A Glossary of ______ 2025 Voices: @okjordanwong @tlee668 @nolanchi_ Sound mix: @ennui2 Audio installation at Roots & Culture: @plzsendpzza Elm box fabrication: @fick2u Pewter casting made possible by @aldnbrk Last two images by @bawdenka Haven’t shared this work because I’ve felt quite uncertain and tender about it. “A Glossary of _____” emerged from the aftermath of my grandpa’s passing, which was hidden from me for almost a year. He named me, taught me how to speak, read me poetry, and gave me Chinese calligraphy lessons. He was the only person in my family that I ever felt seen by. He had sciatica and so do I now. His hands were boney and riddled with age spots the last time I held them. I think I miss him but we also hadn’t spoken since 2016 so truthfully, what do I even know? Mom mentioned that he left behind a book chronicling his life and our family history, but she mocked this effort, thought it “pointless.” I never got to read the book. I wanted to pick up Cantonese again so I could write to him, like him. I knew that some friends felt similarly disconnected from the language, and decided to bring them in. Our meetings followed a simple structure: 1) they recount a memory in English; 2) I teach them how to describe the event in Cantonese, starting with words, then phrases and idioms, and lastly full sentences; 3) I share a relevant memory of mine in exchange. Tom, Jordan and Nolan have been incredibly generous and open with me, which I do not take lightly. Thanks to @roots_and_culture_chi and @bawdenka for witnessing and supporting the development of this work as part of our two-person show “Kin” last winter. It is back on view at OH Art Foundation @zhoubartcenter as part of “Still After, Threads of Remembrance” curated by @yicao__ till July 12, opening tonight! Let me know if you’d like to learn Canto sometime :)

Alright folks, mark your calendars for April 11th!!! @freedom_from_and_freedom_to is back on @elasticarts at 7pm/$15. I am beyond thrilled to have the amazing Ruby Que @rubyq.ue with us for the first time! Come enjoy some of the best improvising musicians and dancers from Chicago and Sasha Masakowski from L.A.🙌🏾. This show will be live and also on Elastic’s twitch channel, for those that can’t join us. Freedom From and Freedom To is a cross disciplinary event featuring improvising dancers and musicians. Audience members will select the groups by chance. I’m extremely happy to present 25 performers! Many are FFFT veterans & others are brand new to the family! Here is the eventbrite link below for tickets: /e/freedom-from-and-freedom-to-tickets-1983830793306?aff=oddtdtcreator Ruby Que is an interdisciplinary artist working across video, performance and installation. They use light to open portals and create hauntings. ID 1. Image one is of Ruby in front of a desk manipulating objects on top of an overhead projector. They are wearing a dark purple sweater and pants. Around the image it says Freedom From and Freedom To in lavender letters, and there are gold vertical designs on either side of the image, as well as their name to the right in lavender letters. Photo credit: Elaine Suzanne Miller 2. Image two is the FFFT graphic with all of the names of the performers in collaboration with @scottrubinmusic and the illustration was created by @cristalsabbagh #freedomfromandfreedomto #elasticarts #improvisedmusic #improvdance #rubyque

This Saturday 12/6 @rubyq.ue and I are performing @roots_and_culture_chi from 3-5pm💧It’s a durational haircut, a baptismal balancing act, an activation of our show as the sun sets 🪽

Thank you @ragdale_residency @luminartsculturalfoundation for the time in the most beautiful glass cage where I got to contemplate invisibility very visibly. I spent hours sitting on the floor with no lights on, looking out into the prairie, training myself to see in the dark.

Genuinely the most difficult show I’ve ever worked on, venturing out into unfamiliar territories (speakers are fascinating; what is a book?) and resurfacing painfully familiar memories (embarrassed by and embarrassing family; grandma being a bad cook; why have I never said “love” in Cantonese?) - KIN opens Friday November 7, 6-9pm, please come!

is this post finding you as well as can be???

Hearth Auction Artist:  Ruby Que Bird, 2023, cedar, 11 x 4 x 1” Courtesy of the artist Estimated Value: $320 . . . Ruby Que is an interdisciplinary artist focusing on site-specific interventions and expanded cinema performance. They work with light to open portals and create hauntings. Drawing from their lived experience as a queer, itinerant immigrant, they meditate on yearning and find belonging in transit. Their work has been supported by Luminarts Cultural Foundation, ACRE, Ellis-Beauregard Foundation, New Media Caucus, Roman Susan and Chicago Artists Coalition. Que holds a BA from Cornell University and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where they currently teach.  . . . Online bidding is open now! Link in Bio.

acre forever !!!!!

I’ve been making a puppet show all about touch and impermanence with the support of @chipuppetfest since last October and you can see it this weekend! 7pm Thursday + Saturday, 3pm Sunday at the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center! I love working with @shwatcat in this intimate duet, it’s such a gift to move with her. Thanks to @juanedflores for sound engineering and to @nolanchi_ @_tylerwagner for playing sounds with me in previous iterations of this work. @_sugarm0mmy_ helped me make all the molds and blew my mind with her sugar casting mastery. Thanks @puppetqueers for letting me test run this piece. And thank you to everyone who’s listened to my endless thoughts on touch, puppets and yearning <3 The early seeds of this work came from conversations with dear friend @courtneymackedanz , specifically our collaboration in their project “Almost Like A Pasture” The Chicago Puppet Lab showcase features eight artists and I feel so lucky to be in cohort with @ire.wa @sam_u_el_le_w_is @thecharlieuniverse @madiganburke @robbiehunsinger @michele_joy_stine @kesstokreatures , led by @tlee668 and @graceneedlman

Last Chair 2025 Salvaged wind instrument parts, cedar, aluminum For @__bench_press and @jordanknecht duo show “(un)learning center” @comfort_station - I had the most fun at their opening, please go play in this incredibly generous and generative space they’ve crafted, you have till June 1! Honored to be a small part of it amongst other artist-made chimes 🌬️ Thanks to @j.harold.christ for the flute, @goodzachary for the clarinet, and @gerrithatcher for the saxophone mouthpiece (all sweet human beings and extremely talented musicians!!) I played the flute growing up. I wasn’t particular good at it and was last chair flute in the school band. To my right sat the first chair saxophone, a tall girl with short hair. She always wore a shirt and pants for performances, while all the other girls wore dresses. She looked great in a tie. Obviously I never mustered up the courage to befriend her, despite the fact that we sat next to each other for years and shared a hotel room sometimes when the band traveled. I remember watching her sleep once, her eyelashes fluttering ever so slightly. Or the way her fingers moved on the saxophone. The sounds she made. I got better at playing and the conductor wanted to move me up in the section. I said no. I skipped the placement tests. She was a year above me; I quit band soon after she graduated. She was so good she stayed first chair that whole time. And I sat next to her.