Dallas Jade Graves - Visual Arts & Curation
ABOUT RUINFOLK:
I’m a self taught, multidisciplinary visual artist working within non-institutional methods of preservation.
I create my works from historical and cultural debris—digitally distressed imagery, textiles, photographs, and assemblages that explore grief, western myth, superstition, and the sacred nature of degradation. Ruinfolk is rooted in reclamation and transformation; I'm interested in what remains when original context has eroded, both materially and spiritually.
This artistic study of decay and memory arrives through processes of visual and material salvage—a kind of personal folk religion shaped by loss and creative ritual. I aim to examine the fragile ways remembrance is carried throughout history.
My work does not seek resolution... but witness. And it only asks: What remains when a memory is forgotten?
ABOUT ME:
I grew up in the small, isolated town of Elk, Washington, spending most of my life wandering through abandoned towns, backroads, historic legacies, and forgotten places, either by myself or with my family, in what we called “ghost-towning.” Those experiences shaped the unique way I view and interpret place, time, and nostalgia. I’ve always been drawn to lost histories, local folklore, strange objects, the stories people carry in rural areas, and the ways they carry them.
As a kid, I used a multitude of tools to transform these stories and unravel mysteries: disposable 35mm cameras, VHS camcorders, natural ephemera, and found objects, combined with invented (?) ghost stories I attached to every project. While initially my professional artistic journey focused on portraiture, I felt restricted in the ways I was able to convey meaning through the medium. I further expanded my work focusing on death, liminality, and theology, but still yet was keeping so much of my creativity stifled and hidden. I later earned degrees in Philosophy and Religious Studies, which continue to influence my work alongside years spent curating exhibitions, working with museums and independent galleries, and creating community-based history and folklife projects.
After losing my childhood home and generational family archives in the 2023 wildfires of Eastern Washington, Ruinfolk became a way to rebuild memory and materialize my reverence for decay through creative expression.
