32 – Guadalupe Ruiz

When Guadalupe Ruiz’ son Octavio started school, he often brought home all kinds of craftwork cleverly made from tape and leftover packaging. The Colombian-born artist decided to photograph the handicrafts he had created as if they were real works of art. By taking pictures of them in her studio, Guadalupe Ruiz’s Petit Suisse project captures this time in life where creativity can flourish endlessly. By systematically following the same procedure when taking her pictures, she emphasises the coherence of this series of her son’s creations and gives them a new status as valuable objects. Guadalupe Ruiz sees his craftwork as a reflection of Switzerland today, and symbolic of how Octavio combines his origins with childlike ease compared to her own struggle when she arrived in Switzerland. In 2021, this artist collated her black and white photographs in a limited-edition archival folder.