Sterling Ruby: DRFTRS (Daisy Ghost)

DRFTRS (Daisy Ghost) (2025) is a limited-edition print by Sterling Ruby, co-commissioned by Phaidon and The Broad to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Phaidon’s Contemporary Artists Series—which includes a monograph on Ruby published in 2016—and the tenth anniversary of The Broad, Los Angeles, which has collected his work. The two-color lithograph on Rives heavyweight paper features digital collage, debossing, and deckled edges and is housed in a portfolio case and numbered mailer box, accompanied by a copy of the monograph.

Part of an ongoing series, DRFTRS (Daisy Ghost) exemplifies Ruby’s painterly approach to printmaking and his experimental use of collage. In the print, intertwined gestural lines in shades of blue are combined with cyanotype-like images of the titular flower to produce a delicate composition that alludes to botany, landscape, and archaeology. Often referring to art historical precedents, Ruby’s work engages with issues related to autobiographical narrative and societal pressure. Employing a broad range of strategies and mediums—including sculpture, drawing, collage, ceramics, painting, and video—he examines the tensions between fluidity and stasis, the abject and the pristine.

This print is also available for purchase in a black, white satin, or honey pecan wood frame with UV-filtering plexiglass.