Artist Profile: Ruth Mclees
Ruth is originally from Edinburgh but moved to Wales when she was seven years old. She graduated from the University of Wales Institute in 2004 where she studied a foundation year in Art and Design and a BA (Hons) degree in Fine Art.
Ruth’s portraits are created from images she has taken or collected from adverts or billboards. She has a particular interest in painting “glamourous and watchful” people. She also collects patterns – including small bits of fabric and images from the Sunday supplement fashion pages – fragments of which are featured in her work.
Ruth is passionate about finding materials that have not been used in art before and incorporating them in her practice. Her interest in science developed several years ago when she began to research different ways of using industrial resins to make her paintings more three-dimensional.
As part of her on-going research, Ruth was recently invited to speak at the London Science Museum about using art to help make science more open and accessible. Scientists from the museum have also visited her studio and assisted with experiments.
Ruth is represented by Gallery Ten in Wales and shows exclusively through them.
A local artist has transformed her studio into a science laboratory to create an exhibition that showcases the crossover between art and science.
Chroma Utopia, created by Ruth Mclees, will be held at Gallery Ten, Cardiff, from 7 to 30 November.
Assisted by a polymer chemist, Ruth has experimented with scientific processes and industrial materials to develop coloured glazes that enhance her artwork.
The on-going project has been partly funded by the Arts Council and Ruth’s solo exhibition will feature 27 paintings, which display the results of her research so far.
Ruth said: “What really drives me is making things that no one has ever thought about before and making art in a way that no one has even comprehended which is all about experimenting.”
Artist Profile: Ruth Mclees
Ruth is originally from Edinburgh but moved to Wales when she was seven years old. She graduated from the University of Wales Institute in 2004 where she studied a foundation year in Art and Design and a BA (Hons) degree in Fine Art.
Ruth’s portraits are created from images she has taken or collected from adverts or billboards. She has a particular interest in painting “glamourous and watchful” people. She also collects patterns – including small bits of fabric and images from the Sunday supplement fashion pages – fragments of which are featured in her work.
Ruth is passionate about finding materials that have not been used in art before and incorporating them in her practice. Her interest in science developed several years ago when she began to research different ways of using industrial resins to make her paintings more three-dimensional.
As part of her on-going research, Ruth was recently invited to speak at the London Science Museum about using art to help make science more open and accessible. Scientists from the museum have also visited her studio and assisted with experiments.
Ruth is represented by Gallery Ten in Wales and shows exclusively through them.