Textiles unmaker, materials designer, sustainability researcher

Alejandra Ruiz, born in Medellin, Colombia, graduated as a Fashion Designer from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in 2013.

With the aim of challenging critical issues in fashion and textiles culture, she began providing independent professional services through Hello Alegria Studio, collaborating nationally and internationally in projects related to conscious consumption, sustainable design education, and revalorization of waste.

In 2021 she decided to pursue a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Design at the University of California Davis graduating in 2023. Her MFA work and research focused on repurpose-driven materials design was awarded the prestigious Ann Savageau Award by the UC Davis Design Department.

Her work has been featured in group and solo exhibitions in Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, Portugal, The Netherlands and The United States.

STATEMENT

Along my design education I was prompted to materialize new worlds, being trained on the Hows of transforming resources into fashionable goods to be put into the hands of people. But simultaneously I was seeing a world full of things, and people fastly turning them into trash through deliberate consumption. I felt the world needed less things and more thoughtful design.

This pushed me to join hands and ideas to a global conversation about what was happening to the things that were designed: how they were being used, how we could take better care of them, what were better ways we could get rid of them, and how we could reintegrate or recirculate them into new life cycles.

I felt that to reshape our relationship with ourselves, others and the surrounding environments, we needed to embrace everything as natural, connecting with the profound beauty and inspiration of an undivided experience. I started listening, observing and learning from how life emerges from the end of life, and I was able to  reconsider my role in the creation of new material culture, focusing on thoughtful design that arises from the deconstruction, disassemblage, unmaking, and undesigning of what already exists.

I draw inspiration from the abundance of waste, valuing what is often overlooked, discarded, or rendered as trash and useless, aiming to create materials and products with clear circular futures. 

I believe everybody needs to know and feel this, as we all need to consume culture but are also creators. We need to do this together; I believe the boundless creativity that resides within each of us holds the key to addressing pressing issues in a world craving for more integrity. 

Att.Ale