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About John

Through a combination of media, Ruppert seeks to develop a heightened consciousness of our precarious existence on this planet and how fortunate we are in our positioning in the solar system. His work reveals both nature’s destiny and ongoing pattern of change, as well as human interference on a global scale.
Ruppert’s work has been featured in numerous exhibitions both nationally and internationally. These include Grounds for Sculpture, Omi International Sculpture Park, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Kreeger Museum, Katonah Art Museum, 2010 Miami Sculpture… more
Video Projection Installations
The video installations bring together the various interests and media that I have been working with over the past several years. It is also heavily influenced by my observations of nature and my interest in the physical presence of material, the history of an object and the use of technology.
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Drift / Ancient Ice 2022
Video projection / installation made after visiting the arctic on a sailing vessel.
Video projection of drifting sea ice, 300lb block of ice, hydrophones recording the melting block of ice, recordings of glaciers melting, aluminum castings, and vinyl tarp.
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OriginsCrucible = aluminum chain-link fabric 10' x 10' x 10' River jack = granite, cast aluminum, bronze, copper,& iron. Marble dust Video projection of turbulent ocean Installation 40' x 40' x 40'
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Origins (Detail)
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Origins (Detail)
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Sunken Grid with StrikeSunken Grid = Galvanized steel, Strike = Cast iron Sunken Grid 65” x 168” x 55” Strike 156” x 8” x 5”
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Sunken Grid with Strike and KoiSunken Grid = Galvanized steel Strike = Cast iron Video projection of Koi Sunken Grid 65” x 168” x 55” Strike 156” x 8” x 5”
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Sunken Grid with Strike (Back view)Sunken Grid Galvanized steel, Strike Cast iron Sunken Grid 65” x 168” x 55” Strike 156” x 8” x 5”
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Sunken Grid with Strike and Koi (Back view)Sunken Grid = Galvanized steel Strike = Cast iron Video projection of Koi
Composite Photography
These composite photographs are a result of various residencies that I have participated in.
I choose residencies by their proximity to the landscape.
The composite photographs are, in a sense, constructed and are a direct response to the landscape.
They are an investigation into the origins of the earth and where we are headed.
PLEASE NOTE: THERE SEEMS TO BE A TECHNICAL PROBLEM WITH THIS WEB SITE. THE VIBRANCY / LUMINOSITY OF COLOR IS SHIFTED TO A DULL SPECTRUM. FOR MORE ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF MY PHOTOGRAPHS, CONTACT THE ARTIST.
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Lingering Memory / Etna / Lava Gate 2017Compoosite photograph with animated sky 35" x 120"
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Crater I / Etna / Primary Landscape Series. 2017Composite photograph / archival print 40" x 60"
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Lava Flow - Etna 2017Composit photograph / archival print 40" x 40"
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The Thaw / High Arctic Project. 2019Composite photograph / archival print 40" x 60"
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Shifting Landscape / High Arctic Project 2019Composite photograph / archival print 42" x 42"
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Glaciers Edge / High Arctic Project. 2019Composite photograph / archival print 50" x 40"
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Shifting Landscape II / High Arctic Project 2019Composite phoitograph / archival print 48" x 48"
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Drift / High Arctic Circle Project 2019Composite photograph / archival print 40" x 50" Layered fragments of composite process shifted like the ice
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Burning Ice / High Arctiuc Project - Glacier Lagoon. 2019Composite photograph Archival print 48" x 48"
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Snow Peak / Pending Sky. 2019-20Composite Photograph 30"x 30"
Iron Wedges/Liquid Tectonics (Ongoing)
Over the past several years I have been working with the metal casting process to create my sculpture. The sources for my work are drawn from the landscape and the processes that have formed it, the scale and power of industry, and the effect that environmental forces have on human ordering, ranging from remote ancient ruins to urban archeology.
I see the processes and elements used to shape metal in the foundry as a metaphor for the forces that have shaped and are shaping our environment.
What interests me most about a cast object is its fossil like nature: its ability to retain and convey information. The marks of the sand mold, the flashing and the cracks left from the molten metal shrinking and the natural patina of the metal all convey history.
My castings address the way creative forces in nature shape material; comparing time and material. Wood fragments blown from trees struck by lightning, boulders worn by glaciers and water, and hybrid oversized gourds have been used for patterns for the castings.
Each cast iron wedge weighs approximately 1,000 lbs. The shape of each wedge is determined by the angle of the sides of the mold and the incline of the mold in the ground.
This project is on going..........
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Liquid TectonicsCast iron, Wedges range in size from 4' to 12' long.
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Liquid TectonicsCast iron
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Liquid Tectoinics (Detail)Cast iron
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Sand mold waiting for metal
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ironwedges-8-9molds-pp.jpgTwo wedge sand molds waiting for metal. One has it's walls closer together then the other and it's angle in the earth is deeper then the other.
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ironwedge-8pour2-pp.jpg
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ironwedge-8pour3-pp.jpg
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ironwedge-8pour4-pp.jpg
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ironwedges-8-9cooling-pp.jpgIron Wedges cooling
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ironwedge-9pour-pp.jpg
Celestial Bodies and Events
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Cosmic Chamber 2019-0ngoingThe Celestial Event series references cosmic events such as black holes, pulsars, and the Big Bang while working with tangible materials and unseen forces. Magnetite (an iron sand and product of volcanos) comes from the deepest core of the earth and is a reminder of the origins of the planet. These sculptures use forces on earth (magnetism) to reference the singularity of a black hole and incomprehensible ideas about time. The Cosmic Chamber audio loop compares the sound/energy of the primordial echo of the Big Bang to turbines driven by geothermic energy. The recording of the geothermic driven turbines is from a geothermic power plant in Hellisheiðarvirk, Iceland, 64° 02’13.5” N, 21° 24’12.2” W, captured June, 2012.
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Force Field II / Celestial Event Series 2019Force Field II: Earth magnet (NdFeB, Grade N52) and volcanic sand (magnetite harvested from Joshua Tree, CA)
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Converging Nebulae & Force Field / Celestial Event Series 2019Foreground: Converging Nebulae Earth magnets (NdFeB, grade N42) and volcanic sand (magnetite harvested from the Adirondack Mountains, NY) Background: Force Field II: Celestial Event Series 2019 Earth magnet (NdFeB, Grade N52) and volcanic sand (magnetite harvested from Joshua Tree, CA)
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Vortex / Celestial Event Series 2019Magnetite, rare earth magnet, wood, and light 5" x 42" x 42"
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Vortex / Celestial Event Series 2019 (Detail)Earth magnets (NdFeB, grade N42) and volcanic sand (magnetite harvested from the Adirondack Mountains, NY)
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Vortex / Celestial Event Series 2019Earth magnets (NdFeB, grade N42) and volcanic sand (magnetite harvested from the Adirondack Mountains, NY)
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Phobos / A Satelite of MarsPhobos / A satellite of Mars ABS plastic 12" x 8" x 8" 3D modeling of celestial bodies with wire frame reflection. Rapid prototype
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Ida / An Astroid"Ida" Astroid ABS Plastic 4" x 7" x 11"
Chain-Link Fabric Sculpture
Exploration of form, material and light.
The chain-link fabric objects become catalysts in the site and perform as perceptual devices or monitors in the landscape, bringing attention to their surroundings.
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Wave / Wildrstein Historic Site
Galvanized chain-link fabric 4' x 4' x 100'
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Yellow / Homage to Van Gough 2014Powder coated vinyle chain-link fabric and stainless steel 11' x 11'
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3 Orbs / KUMU Estonia
Aluminum chainlink fabric, 14' 16' (diameter) each, Exhibited during the inaugural exhibition of KUMU the Contemporary Museum of Estonia.
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Gourd / Grounds for Sculpture
Galvanized chain-link fabric and stainless steel, 72" x 96" x 96"
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Gourd / Grounds for Sculpture
Galvanized chain-link fabric and stainless steel, 72" x 96" x 96"
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Evergreen House - group
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Diva
Galvanized chain-link fabric, 72" x 96" x 96"
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CrucibleAvailable for Purchase
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Millenium Orb / Kreeger MuseumAluminum chain link fabric, 12' x 16' (diameter)
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Beach Orbs / Virginia Beach, VAGalvanized chainlink fabric 12' x 12' diameter (each) Virginia Beach
Molds of Molds
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Drift-landscapeCast iron and granite 18" x 120" x 144"
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Drift-landscape (Detail)Detail
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Cavity - Molds of Molds SeriesCast iron, copper and zinc 10"x 14" x 14"
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Drift II - Molds of Molds SeriesRock and cast iron 14" x 32" x 72"
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Drift II - Molds of MoldsCast iron
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Drift II (Detail)Cast iron
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Cevas - Molds of Molds SeriesCast Iron, copper and zinc 9" x 16" x 16"
Lightning Series. (ongoing)
Copper, Aluminum and iron castings made from shards of trees that have been hit by lightning.
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Cherry Tree Strike 2017Cast ductile iron 20' x 2' x 2'
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Three Strikes - Stainless steel. 2018Cast stainless steel and rock 14' x 20' x 60'
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Horizontal StrikeCast aluminum & copper 8"x144"
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Thuder Bolt-WingCast iron 111' x 14" x 8"
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Aluminum StrikeCast aluminum strike with core Sand 139" x 30"x 30"
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Thunder Bolt 2007Cast iron 119" x 11" x 11"
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Helstrike with BouldersCast aluminum strike with granite glacier boulder and cast aluminum and bronze boulders Installation 22' x 20' x 20' Boulders 14’x 20”x20” (each)
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Triad 1993Cast aluminum 56” x 97” x 9”
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Torque 1995Cast aluminum 110” x 12” x 10”
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First Strke - Copper. (1995- On going)Cast copper from fragment of tree hit by lighting 93" x 7" x 8"
Echo Boulders Series (Ongoing)
"A rock sits on the gallery floor side by side with its twin, a copy of itself cast in iron. Would you look at the shadowy concavities, craggy angles and weightiness of this rock as closely if it sat alone? Staged with its duplicate, it invites puzzling out the differences between its grainy mineral textures and the faintly velvety rusting surface of the casting. The intense heat of molten metal comes to mind, but how does that compare with the unimaginable fiery temperatures and pressures that formed the rock? And which is more interesting, the rock or its man-made facsimile?" Mary McCoy
Metal castings of Boulders that have been effected by natural and human energy events.
In most cases, the original boulder is displayed with the cast copy, creating a tension between them, and bringing into question what is real and what is not .....
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Berg 2. 2020Vermont slate and cast aluminum The "Berg" Series references the vanishing ice coused by climate change.
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Berg 2. 2020Vermont slate and cast aluminum The "Berg" Series references the vanishing ice coused by climate change.
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Berg. 2019Vermont slate and cast aluminum 56" x 40" x 14" (each) The "Berg" Series references the vanishing ice coused by climate change.
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Split Rock SeriesGranite glacier boulder and cast bronze 33" x 30" x 15" (each)
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Ocean BouldersGranite, cast iron, bronze and stainless steel 12" x 24" x 15" (each)
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PlateauRock from dynamite blast and Cast bronze
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River Jacks I
Granite river rock, cast aluminum, bronze, copper and iron 18" x 40" x 16" (each)
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River Jacks (Detail)Cast Aluminum 18" x 40" x 16"
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Dynamite RockRock from dynamite blast and cast iron 22" x 30" x 45"
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Glacier BouldersGranite glacier boulder, iron and concrete 60" x 50" x 96" Artscape 2000
PUMPKINS
The Pumpkin has truly become an American phenomenon symbolizing the harvest and our agricultural industry. As a result fierce pumpkin growing competitions have evolved for the heaviest pumpkin.
The Gourds that I have been working with are products of agricultural engineering and are carefully attended to during their growing period. The pumpkins are freaks, oversized, burdened by their own weight to the point of collapse. Their size animates them giving them an anthropomorphic presence and amplifying their fertile qualities.
The Pumpkin Series is generated from a mold taken from an original 700lb pumpkin. The series is an ongoing, open-ended edition that started in 1995. Currently there are 18 aluminum and 2 iron pumpkins. In locations from the East to West coasts.
They have also been featured in a traveling exhibiton "Material Terrain."
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Four Pumpkins / Druid Hill Park (1995 - Present)Cast aluminum 29" x 43" x 42"
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Five Pumpkins / Grounds for SculptureCast aluminum 29” x 43” x 42” (each)
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5 Pumpkins / Grounds for Sculpture - DetailCast aluminum 29” x 43” x 42” (each)
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3 PumpkinsCast aluminum 29” x 43” x 42” (each)
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Winter PumpkinsCast aluminum 29” x 43” x 42” (each)
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3 Pumpkins / Virginia BeachCast aluminum 29” x 43” x 42” (each)
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Iron PumpkinCast iron 29” x 43” x 42” (each)
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Iron PumpkinCast iron 29” x 43” x 42” (each)
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4 Pumpokins / De cordova MuseumCast aluminum 29” x 43” x 42” (each)
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3 Pumpkins / Copia, Napa, CACast aluminum 29” x 43” x 42” (each)