mood lighting: nü werks in new orleans

A word on tim­ing and meaning —

 

 

My tro­phy mo­ments have a com­i­cal knack for ar­riv­ing along­side some bullshit:

My first TO­DAY Show seg­ment – bumped for Char­lie Sheen’s AIDS an­nounce­ment.

My 10-year ret­ro­spec­tive – same night as a ma­jor gala, lots of folks were elsewhere.

My first big open­ing in L.A. – out of nowhere, rain emp­tied the streets.
 

 

To­day, it’s my hon­or to be one of three women fea­tured in Mood Light­ing, a show at Mor­tal Ma­chine Gallery in New Or­leans – though now, we’ve opened amidst world chaos, and everyone’s burnout.

It doesn’t feel like a time for art promotion.
 

I’ve been hot and cold my­self, nos­tal­gic for the tran­scen­dent world we were sup­posed to be ca­pa­ble of by now.

The emo­tions, vi­sions, and pre­mo­ni­tions in my new col­lec­tion might seem time­ly, but I want to say, they are not in­ten­tion­al­ly topical.
 

They have, time­less­ly, ac­com­pa­nied me since childhood. 

They’re part of the imag­ined ar­chi­tec­ture I re­treat into when “I don’t like it here.”
 

Mid­night in the Hills and Vi­sion se­ries are about con­sol­ing places.

They are in­ter­nal and con­jured when what’s need­ed is touch­down – in a vast and emp­ty di­men­sion where we are unbreakable.

 

My new­er se­ries, Any­where But Here, fea­tures women who have es­caped – or will. 

 

They’re wide-eyed, not with fear, but clar­i­ty, and hold them­selves like anchors …
 

… pluck­ing peace from thin air like a cher­ry blossom.

 

 

My mot­to has long been “Draw or Die” – not in a the­atri­cal sense – but be­cause when the world feels un­in­hab­it­able, art is one of the few things that keeps me teth­ered to life.

 

I don’t know what art does for you. But the pieces I hang on my own walls feel like tat­toos – they are re­minders of who I am and what I’m made of.

 

 

This show is for any­one who has had to es­cape into them­selves to stay whole.
 

 

Come view Mood Light­ing. Even if you’re not in the mood.
 

 

 

—ruby roth

Flom­mist Ruby Roth is an artist, de­sign­er, cre­ative strate­gist, and the au­thor-il­lus­tra­tor of four lead­ing books for kids. Her work has been fea­tured on To­day, CNN, FOX, NBC, ABC News, and oth­er ma­jor me­dia out­lets. Copy­right © 2025 Ruby Roth.

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