"Hudson, Falls": Home Away from Home

By Xiaoying Wu Hong

“After Work,” a solo exhibition by Nicholas Ruffing, a senior BFA student, marked the end of the fall 2025 semester, as well as his last semester in person at Purchase College. Between playing Stardew Valley [a farming video game] and lying with his beloved cat, Ginger, Ruffing edits his second senior project on his mangled laptop. Working from the comforts of his childhood bed, as he finishes his final semester at Purchase College completely asynchronously.

Nicholas Ruffing in The Forum Art Space, pictured with his work from his solo exhibition “After Work” (Photo by Xiaoying Wu Hong)

So, what was your childhood like?

I spent almost all my life in Hudson Falls. That’s my hometown. I was born in Florida, but basically, as soon as I came out, like, my family went up. I was adopted by my dad when I was about 3, and he was in the military for most of my life. He would be deployed for long periods of time. So, I was a military brat. Ever since I was a toddler, I knew I wanted to do art. I feel like sometimes you meet people and they’re like, ‘I still don’t know what I want to do,’ which is fair. But I wasn’t able to speak yet, and I wanted to make art forever.

Nicholas Ruffing’s childhood bedroom with his cat, Ginger, lying on his bed (Photo by Nicholas Ruffing)

Can you tell me a little about your senior projects? I know you have two of them.

I am a senior interdisciplinary major for the BFA [Bachelor of Fine Arts]. My primary concentration is painting, and my secondary is photography. I finished my first one a few months ago. That was my painting thesis. That one was sort of more of an exploration into the experimentation of queer identity as told in these really large-scale, abstracted figures and portraits.

My current photography project, “Hudson, Falls,” is more of a deep dive into my hometown. How it’s growing, changing, and how living in such an environment will impact how you act, how you behave and how you are as a person.

Would you say that these two themes influenced each other?

Um, honestly, I wanted them to be different or separate. I had a lot of professors who wanted me to find a way to make the two of them go together in a more direct way.

And you didn’t agree with that?

I didn’t. I think I can learn from each project. But when it comes to my practice, I think having my photos right next to my paintings will take away from each one. This [photography] project is more place-oriented than the introspection on people’s brains. The mindset through this process has kind of been strange because I’m like reigning in all of these crazy ideas that I was able to paint before, and now I’m making something more cohesive instead, through small photos. So, I’m going from throwing a bunch of things at a wall and experimenting to making something that’s less rule-breaking than my first project was.

I know you’re working asynchronously from home for your final project. How’s that experience for you?

It is so weird. I haven’t known anyone who’s done something like this. I had a bunch of issues, which caused me to work remotely for this semester. Something that is sort of a silver lining is that I’ve spent most of my photography practice constantly going back and finding my best work in my hometown area, being able to study and do all of my work there with the freedom of being in my childhood bedroom, being able to have family dinners, and getting my favorite takeout. I think, despite not being able to have a dark room, or big printers, or critiques as often as I’d like, having that freedom has been really wonderful.

Nicholas Ruffing’s art supplies and work in the corner of his bedroom (Photo by Nicholas Ruffing)

And since your final is based around your hometown, it’s a lot easier.

Oh yeah. I’ll do this thing with my best friend at home, where we’ll drive back and forth through where I live. I am surrounded by the most beautiful mountain landscapes, and then my town is sort of falling apart, a very Republican red area. It is kind of scary to be there, but being able to take pictures there as often as I want is really nice.

 Let’s circle back to your first project on queerness. I think there’s something to be said about how that’s really connected to your experience at Purchase. And now you’re back home, doing your project about home.

Yeah, I think there’s gotta be some sort of irony about my work that is inherently queer, about the queer experience, queer violence and play at the same time, to being home with small prints, in a more controlled environment. My photography work is not about my queerness. It’s not about my transness. It’s just about the place and the isolation you get.

What are the challenges of being alone and separated from school while working on your senior project?

Oh, it’s so lonely. I thought I was going to be fine. But going from seeing dozens of people who are also working artists or people who are very dear to me to seeing maybe three to five a day, three of whom I’m related to, was a very isolating experience. Something that has also been a huge adjustment has been the fact that there’s no real public transportation around here. I don’t have my license.

So, my independence has gone really weird. If I wanted to make a piece, I could walk to the studio and make anything as big as I want, as late as I want. But when I’m home, I don’t have any of that independence, you know?

I’m in my childhood room. If I wanted to go somewhere and I didn't want to walk through feet of snow, I’d have to rely on being driven by my dad as a 21-year-old or beg my friend who has a full-time job to bring me somewhere. I hate the fact that what was once a routine for me is now just a gift I can only get for like a day at a time.

[From left to right] Justin Knowles, Carter Offer and Nicholas Ruffing (visiting) at "Boners & Cowboys” exhibition reception night at The Forum Art Space (Photo by Xiaoying Wu Hong)

Aw… Ok, final question for now. What would you say to 13-year-old Nick Ruffing?

Oh my god. Keep making work. Keep posting on DeviantArt [a 2000s online art-sharing platform], I’m showing my age, keep posting on DeviantArt. And it gets better. Oh, it gets better.