Ruth Ige
Ruth Ige (b. 1992, Nigeria) is a New Zealand-based painter whose intimate, evocative compositions oscillate between bodily forms and painterly abstractions. While some resemble traditional portraiture, others consist of color fields that capture a more mysterious, ethereal effect. Hands, shoulders, and faces emerge from a watery facture. “I am interested in creating images that are not easily understood,” says Ige. She considers her unique figuration, which renders her subjects featureless and inscrutable, to be a form of “veiling.” As Cameron Ah Loo-Matamua writes, Ige uses mystery “as a form of empowerment, one that allows for a portrayal of blackness that is ‘enigmatic and not expected.’” Ruth Ige holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Auckland University of Technology. Recent exhibitions include Karma, New York (2019); Artspace, Auckland (2017); the Vivian, Matakana (2018); LISTE—Art Fair Basel, Switzerland (2018); and ST PAUL St Gallery, Auckland (2019).
![Single work, Ruth Ige](https://karmakarma.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Ruth-Ige-979x1400.jpg)
Born 1992, Nigeria
Works and lives in Auckland, New Zealand
EDUCATION
2018
Auckland University of Technology
SELECTED SOLO AND TWO PERSON EXHIBTIONS
2020
City Gallery Wellington, Wellington, A Place Apart (forthcoming)
2018
Weasel Gallery, Hamilton, New Zealand, The Silence Before the Morning
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019
SPA_CE, Napier, New Zealand, on the verge of blue
Karma, New York, Henni Alftan, Matt Hilvers, Ruth Ige, Andrew Sim
Gow Langsford, Auckland, Pleiades: Seven Sisters of New Zealand
ST PAUL St Gallery, Auckland, Two Oceans at Once
2018
ST PAUL St Gallery, Aukland, Familiar Territories
Arcadia Missa booth, Liste Art Fair, Basel, curated by Hamishi Farah
The Vivian, Matakana, New Zealand, Never an Answer: 12 Abstract Painters
2017
Artspace, Auckland, Dirt Future