Meet Rusty Scruby, My New Favorite Fiber Artist

I recently discovered Rusty Scruby‘s fantastic knitted art and I’m so excited to share it with you. I imagine that if Brian Eno were a knitter, this is the kind of art he would make.

Red Fan Dance, 2020 (Dallas Art Fair)

A Way To Infinity, 2018 (Cris Worley)

Rusty studied engineering and music composition before deciding to become an artist so his artwork is very constructed and analytical. For years he created photo-based constructions using 1000s of identical prints that he would cut and interlock together with his own tabbing system. It forms kind of a paper fabric:

With the pandemic and staying at home, the knitting has taken over all of his other art production. As an artist he told me that he likes to think about and be able to explain why he’s doing things, but that this work might simply come down to finding comfort and a way to deal with all the craziness. Who else can relate with that. Myself for sure. Rusty says that the knit pieces allow him to combine structure and comfort into one in an attempt to remain sane.

Meet him in the studio, courtesy of PAAP Pan American Art Projects:

And check out his own YouTube series, Rusty Knits:

I’ll leave you with this work-in-progress shot, followed by the finished piece:

Follow the work and adventures of Rusty Scruby at rustyscruby.com.