Ruth Cleland


Ruth Cleland is a New Zealand artist, based in Auckland. Her works are held in the collection of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Cleland is known for her photo-realist paintings and pencil drawings of suburban landscapes, and her abstract grid works. Cleland lives in Auckland with her husband and fellow photo-realistic artist Gary McMillan.

Biography

Cleland was born in Gordonton, Hamilton in 1976. In 2002 she gained a Master of Fine Arts at Otago School of Art, Dunedin, where she met Gary McMillan, also from the Waikato. Since then Cleland has exhibited nationally and internationally in private galleries as well as public art institutions.
Trained as a printmaker in aquatint, Cleland found her prints could be improved by adding detail in pencil, and in 2001 she went further by combining prints and drawings on the one sheet. Her subjects were familiar but overlooked objects and areas, such as corners of rooms and stairwells. In 2004 she turned her attention to exterior views of the suburbs around Hamilton where her parents live. Cleland presented a series of these suburbia works in 2005 at Blue Oyster Gallery in Dunedin. After moving to Auckland in 2006, Cleland began focusing on shopping malls.
Cleland lists Latvian-born American artist Vija Celmins among her influences, famous for her accurately rendered images of nature.

Solo Exhibitions