Artists

Dried Slices of Produce Enliven a Cellar-Like Space in Ruby Jackson’s ‘Picker’ — Colossal

Irina Runkel
4 Min Read


Like ancient traditions of weaving papyrus, Ruby Jackson fashions a similarly desiccated substrate from delicate cuts of produce. The Chatham, New York-based artist sliced and dried a range of fare from apples and pears to purple daikon and watermelon, creating thin, translucent pieces to be collaged into various forms.

Jackson’s recent solo exhibition, Picker at Chatham Soccer, presented a series of the resulting works. A troupe of dancers frolicks along one wall, while more abstract forms arranged in gradients appear on another. With yellow concrete walls and wood paneling, the unconventional space evokes a fruit cellar primed for storing harvests through a long winter, a fitting atmosphere for this equally unconventional material.

Find more of Jackson’s work on her website and Instagram.

Detail of “The Peddler” (2025), assorted papyrus (apple, beets, black radish, cantaloupe, carrot, cucumber, leek, lime, pear, purple cabbage, purple carrot, purple daikon radish, radicchio, red radish, watermelon, zucchini), 220 x 52 ½ inches
figurative and abstract shapes made of dried slices of produce on a yellow concrete wall
Detail of “The Peddler” (2025), assorted papyrus (apple, beets, black radish, cantaloupe, carrot, cucumber, leek, lime, pear, purple cabbage, purple carrot, purple daikon radish, radicchio, red radish, watermelon, zucchini), 220 x 52 ½ inches
dried slices of produce layered into a collage
Detail of “The Peddler” (2025), assorted papyrus (apple, beets, black radish, cantaloupe, carrot, cucumber, leek, lime, pear, purple cabbage, purple carrot, purple daikon radish, radicchio, red radish, watermelon, zucchini), 220 x 52 ½ inches
figurative and abstract shapes made of dried slices of produce on a yellow concrete wall
Detail of “The Peddler” (2025), assorted papyrus (apple, beets, black radish, cantaloupe, carrot, cucumber, leek, lime, pear, purple cabbage, purple carrot, purple daikon radish, radicchio, red radish, watermelon, zucchini), 220 x 52 ½ inches
dried slices of produce layered into a collage
Detail of “The Peddler” (2025), assorted papyrus (apple, beets, black radish, cantaloupe, carrot, cucumber, leek, lime, pear, purple cabbage, purple carrot, purple daikon radish, radicchio, red radish, watermelon, zucchini), 220 x 52 ½ inches
figurative and abstract shapes made of dried slices of produce on a yellow concrete wall
Detail of “The Peddler” (2025), assorted papyrus (apple, beets, black radish, cantaloupe, carrot, cucumber, leek, lime, pear, purple cabbage, purple carrot, purple daikon radish, radicchio, red radish, watermelon, zucchini), 220 x 52 ½ inches
dried slices of produce layered into a collage
Detail of “The Peddler” (2025), assorted papyrus (apple, beets, black radish, cantaloupe, carrot, cucumber, leek, lime, pear, purple cabbage, purple carrot, purple daikon radish, radicchio, red radish, watermelon, zucchini), 220 x 52 ½ inches
dried slices of produce layered into a collage
“Marbles” (2025), assorted papyrus (apple, beet, black radish), 20 ½ x 16 ¾ inches
dried slices of produce layered into a collage
Detail of “Marbles” (2025), assorted papyrus (apple, beet, black radish), 20 ½ x 16 ¾ inches
figurative and abstract shapes made of dried slices of produce on a yellow concrete wall
Detail of “The Peddler” (2025), assorted papyrus (apple, beets, black radish, cantaloupe, carrot, cucumber, leek, lime, pear, purple cabbage, purple carrot, purple daikon radish, radicchio, red radish, watermelon, zucchini), 220 x 52 ½ inches
figurative and abstract shapes made of dried slices of produce on a yellow concrete wall
“The Peddler” (2025), assorted papyrus (apple, beets, black radish, cantaloupe, carrot, cucumber, leek, lime, pear, purple cabbage, purple carrot, purple daikon radish, radicchio, red radish, watermelon, zucchini), 220 x 52 ½ inches
dried slices of produce on wood paneling
“To keep bugs out of the house” (2025), radichhio papyrus, 9 ½ x 10 inches



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