bio

Lena Ruth is a mixed-media artist and singer from New York City. Growing up with a classical bassoonist father and jazz singer aunt, she was raised surrounded by music. After a brief bout of acting at a performing arts high school, she readjusted her focus to concentrate on studio art and art history at Skidmore College, where she continued to sheepishly write songs in the background. She delved into tapestry weaving in college, feverishly weaving tender and emotive tapestries of her aging Grandmother. Over the years this exploration of age turned into her own rapid deterioration, and she developed repetitive strain injuries in both of her hands, ceasing to be able to play music, make art, to do much of anything for over a year. During this time, she began to work towards honing and developing her voice as a songwriter, using her poetic lilting tone and whimsy to express anxiety and perseverance through anatomical pain. By creating wearable art to perform in, she underscores an alternative layer to the text, lifting up imagery and building it into a soft armor. Collaborating with Evan O. Adams on her debut album, Hold My Threads, they have developed a sonic agenda to capture sensitivities within the personal, political, and bleeding natural world.