Ruben Ireland is an artist living and working in the UK. He was born in Amsterdam in 1987 and moved to England when he was 7. Ruben is an illustrator of strength. There is strength in the jaw-lines of his portraits, in the graphic execution of the finished product and the colours which jump out from the work. Inbetween the red-raw hands stroking outwards of ‘Paint or Die Trying’ and the half-man/half-ram creations of ‘Amalgamations’ sits a world of dark fairy-tales.
“I mix traditional and contemporary techniques to create dreamlike images with dark textural elements and stark, contrasting tone and colour. Often depicting stoic women in minimalistic environments, balancing intricate detail with simplified form and distorted proportions. Many of the women in my personal work have half darkened faces. I like to keep the messages in my work open to individual interpretation because once the work is finished, it’s not for me any more.” – Ruben Ireland (Swide)
