Artist Ya Laford stands in front of her work.
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Abstract artist Ya Laford is wanted.
Her commissions, which include sculptures, installations and gallery exhibitions, mean she is fully booked for the next four years.
Rufford, who is based in the artistic community of St. Petersburg, Fla., announced a list of current and former clients. Nike, McLaren Racing, the Orlando Magic basketball team, and ski brand Rossignol all spoke by phone with CNBC. She also works for the NFL and more, creating memorabilia for team owners during the 2021 Super Bowl.
“I create site-specific installations of bold, geometric paintings that explore themes of transformation, transcendence, and interconnectedness,” she told CNBC by phone.
“My charm [is] She talked about how geometric patterns can create the illusion of depth and movement. Rufford uses a variety of mediums to create her work, including painting, sculpture, installation, and video.
She is also a celebrity favorite, receiving commissions from celebrities, but confidentiality agreements prevent her from discussing many of them publicly. A photo of Rufford and Janet Jackson is among the images on her Instagram account, with the caption “Birthday love.”
“American Roots” (2021), installation by Ya Laford at the John and Mable Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida.
John and Mable Ringling Museum | and Rufford
“Water finds its own level,” she added. Ms. Rufford received her Master of Fine Arts degree from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Florida Levin School of Law.
Among the people she talks about working with is Maya Angelou, a writer and activist who died in 2014. Rufford made a tapestry with quilted words from Angelou's poem. “She commissioned me to do a piece…when I was in Houston, and it was very intertwined with words, poetry, and the power of love and light,” Rufford said.
“The biggest lesson I learned from Maya is that everyone you meet should feel better about themselves and their goals as a result. People rarely remember what you say. “But you will always remember how you made them feel,” Rufford told CNBC in an email, recalling the author's quote.
Artist Ya Laford is working on a piece titled “Unloaded” (2017) at the Orlando Museum of Art.
Orlando Museum of Art | and Rufford
The use of geometry is a “universal language,” she said, “redefining ancient civilizations, connecting this current space we live in, and forcing us to think seriously about what will happen in our future.” “There is,” he added. Ms. Rufford is inspired by her travels, and her monuments and cultural interests include the Great Wall of China, the Colosseum in Rome, the temples of Egypt, and Colombia, where she was formally freed from slavery in 1713. It mentions the people of Palenque.
“I like to think that these pieces have a rich power and healing power, like stones or talismans,” Rufford says of her work, and many of her clients have them in their homes next to her art. He added that he was meditating.
“I think this idea of being able to manipulate space, perspective, and perspective to engage with humanity and create immersive experiences that we can all share is the magic of markmaking,” she added.
A computer-generated image of a sculpture designed by artist Ya Laford to honor the Courageous 12, a group of black police officers who sued the city of St. Petersburg for discrimination in 1965.
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Among her public art projects is a sculpture honoring the Courageous 12, a group of black police officers who sued the city of St. Petersburg in 1965 for discrimination and won the right to serve as police officers like white officers. It contains.
The concrete, stainless steel and bronze sculpture features Rufford's geometric lines and will be constructed on the site of the former police headquarters. “This sculpture pays tribute to the courage and resilience of these pioneering officers,” she said, adding that the work will be on display early next year.
Alongside his public art creation and corporate activities, Rufford has artist residencies in Ogden, Utah and Jacksonville, Florida, and has exhibited at the Tampa Museum of Art and the Asian Contemporary Art Show. Her work is also part of the permanent collection of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Rufford's talent emerged early, and as a child she painted on the walls of her home in the Bronx, New York. “My mother was a second grade teacher, and her walls became my canvas from an early age. She would let me create these grand installations. I thought I was just creating a safe space to come and feel welcome, but I didn't realize I was… laying the foundation. [for a career],” she said.
Mark Rothko's painting “Black on Maroon” (1958) (right) at the Tate Modern Gallery in London. The piece was defaced in 2012 and restored in 2014, but Ya Laford said it was one of her favorite pieces of art.
Rob Stothard | Getty Images
Art is in her blood. Rufford's grandfather is John Dunkley, considered one of Jamaica's most important artists. Dunkley died in 1947, and the exhibition of 45 of his works at the American Folk Museum in 2019 was described as a “revelation” by The New York Times. On its website, the museum describes Dunkley's work as “landscapes characterized by distinctive dark tones and psychologically suggestive underpinnings.”
“As I grew up, each work left me with hidden mysteries that I now know can only be solved and understood with the paints I use to create my own world. ” Rufford writes about Dunkley's work on the Miami Perez Museum website. .
Abstract Expressionist artists such as Mark Rothko, Cy Twombly, and James Turrell are people with whom Rufford described himself as being “in conversation.” One of her favorite Rothko works, “Black on Maroon” (1959), makes her cry, she said. She says, “I think there's this moment that resonates across time and space that art can capture.''
No matter who she works for, Rufford said she tries to explore the human condition. “And we're discovering everything from tranquility to excitement…the positive and the negative: how do they coexist?” she said.
