Sorry about the Mess #2, Birmingham School of Art Gallery, 1–23 October 2026. Curated by Babe Station.
Cécile & the Black Dog is an installation of 115 paintings on paper selected from a larger series made over four years, between March 2021 and April 2025.
The work originates from a photograph Ruocco took of her mother, Cécile, approximately ten years before her sudden death in 2016. The photograph shows Cécile lying on the ground, her head resting on a floral towel, with the muzzle of a black dog entering the foreground.
Each evening, Ruocco painted a new layer of colour over a giclée print of the previous painting, which was then scanned to produce the next print. She continued working on both the prints and the original paintings, allowing the images to develop through successive layers of painting and digital reproduction. Each new painting carries traces of those that preceded it, as earlier painted marks become part of the printed surface and new layers of paint are added on top. Over time, the distinction between physically painted marks and their printed reproductions becomes increasingly difficult to discern.
The process allows Ruocco to repeatedly return to an image she found impossible to fully comprehend after her mother's death. Rather than arriving at a single definitive image, each iteration opens up another possibility for interpreting and transforming the photograph through painting.
For Sorry about the Mess #2, 115 works were installed directly onto the gallery wall in a grid, using drawing pins and small bulldog clips. The arrangement was developed by the curator and technical team in response to the architecture of the exhibition space.
Cécile & the Black Dog, 2021–2025. Acrylic and water-based oils over giclée prints on paper, including Hahnemühle and ordinary printer paper. 115 works, each approximately 29.7 × 42 cm. Overall dimensions variable.
Photographs by James Houston and Helen Grundy.