I was born and raised in Eugene, Oregon. I received a BA in studio art from the University of California at Davis and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California at San Diego. I have traveled and studied extensively in Papua New Guinea, Southeast Asia, and currently live and work in Oakland/Berkeley, California. I have exhibited my work in one-woman shows in Northern and Southern California and in a number of local and national group exhibits. A recurrent theme in my work is fashion and its excesses. I create wearable sculptures from recycled materials, incorporating them into installations, performances, and videos. My current obsession is making purses from recycled materials.

My purse obsession took solid form while I was an Artist in Residence at the Sanitary Fill Company (a.k.a. “the dump”) in San Francisco, California in 2001. While creating art at the dump I discovered an inordinate amount of perfectly good basketballs being thrown away. I rescued them with the intention of making wearable art; bras, hats, etc. It was then that I made my first basketball purse by ripping apart two or three old purses and attaching a basketball to the bottom. From there I began to cut up old purses and reassemble them with a ball bottoms. A friend then turned me on to playground balls, and two years later, here I am.

In creating this web site it is my intention to encourage recycling, become famous and be on the Oprah Winfrey show, make a little extra pocket money, meet the community, and create custom designed purses out of ironically laced materials. My roots are in recycling, but occasionally I purchase basketballs & playground balls from large chain stores. Please be aware that my purses have no connection to the companies or corporations that I purchase my materials from nor from the manufacturers of the balls, etc. These companies are not endorsing my product or design, and have no connection to my artwork other than the fact that I’m using a portion of their product as one of the raw materials for the construction of my purses.

The bottom line is I enjoy a good challenge. Hence, I give you, the customer the option of buying one of the purses displayed in the catalog, or ordering a custom designed original. If you would like a custom designed purse please send me an old (or new) basketball or playground ball along with two to three purses (no metal handles as the purse needs to be able to be turned inside out), and a variety of other objects. Recycled objects good for making purses include: plastic placemats, belts, bike inner tubes, large buttons for closure devices, shoe laces for draw strings, etc. From these materials I will create a unique, one of a kind, Ruff original. Let me have at it and create the purse of your dreams.

Quoted from www.daphneruff.com