World of
Ralph
Collages & Prints
About Ralph Pugay
Ralph Pugay works across painting, drawing, and other media to build nonlinear worlds shaped by humor, contradiction, and the layered noise of contemporary culture. His large-scale works and site-responsive projects often unfold like diagrammatic fables, where everyday absurdities, digital detritus, and emotional undercurrents twist together into unpredictable narratives.
Ralph Pugay (b. 1983, Cavite, Philippines; lives and works in Portland, OR) holds a BA and MFA in Contemporary Art Practice from Portland State University. Pugay has been in residence at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Madison, ME; the Rauschenberg Foundation, Captiva Island, FL; the Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans, LA; Crow's Shadow Golden Spot Residency Program, Pendleton, OR; Creative Exchange Lab, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR; and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE. Awards include a Ford Family Foundation Rauschenberg Fellowship, the 2015 Betty Bowen Award from the Seattle Art Museum, an Oregon Arts Commission Fellowship, and a Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Award. In 2026, Pugay will be the subject of a solo exhibition at the Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA.
IG: @ralphpugay
Curriculum Vitae
Press
PDX Monthly
Ralph Pugay is Troubling Paradise
Matthew Trueherz
November 13, 2025
OPB Oregon Art Beat
Ralph Pugay’s paintings make us laugh but in a good way
Eric Slade
January 5, 2025
Oregon Arts Watch
Empathy and Eros: Ralph Pugay’s ‘The Longest Journey’
Lucy Cotter
December 11, 2023
Art in America Online
Dear Bruce: A Letter from a Fan
Sean J Patrick Carney
January 4, 2019
New American Paintings Blog
Rothkos in Space and Paintings of Dumpsters: The Absurd Worlds of Ralph Pugay
Erin Langner
December 17, 2014