About
My work foregrounds the body: referencing its representation in art history and popular printed matter, the traditions of drawing in the life room, and the presence and intrusion of the artist's body on their image-making.
I work in a range of media: print, drawing, collage and three dimensions. My work is predominantly made with and on paper, and I utilise found objects as materials and drawing tools. Recent work has explored the human silhouette using scissors as a drawing tool, cutting up and recombining found historical printed imgery of bodybuilders and "pin-ups", and creating prints of the body using the 19th century technique of cyanotype printing. Other bodies of work have involved drawing onto the patterns on envelope interiors, using lipstick as a printing ink, and fake eyelashes as mark making tools.
Alongside my work as an artist, I make and restore picture frames. Framing is a very important aspect of my works on paper, situating them as objects, and incorporating and activating the space around the work.
I live and work in London.
Forthcoming Exhibitions:
Imprint Art Fair
Lawrence Hall, London, SW1P 2QD
29 October - 01 November 2026
100 Works on Paper Benefit Show
Kentler International Drawing Space, Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York
19th September - October 16th 2026
Past Exhibitions:
ING Discerning Eye
Mall Galleries, London, 2025
100 Works on Paper Benefit Show
Kentler International Drawing Space, New York, 2025
New Drawings
Curated by Samantha Friedman, (Curator of Drawings and Prints at MoMA),
Kentler International Drawing Space, Brooklyn, New York,
June - July 2025
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2024
London and UK tour 2024 - 2025
Drawing Humans
Curated by Alex English, XYZ Gallery, Grays Inn Road, London, 2024
Southwark Park Galleries Annual Open Exhibition
London, 2024
Props 'Til You Drop
Curated by Wendy Chandler, City Lit, London, 2023
Dance First, Think Later
Curated by Andrew Bracey, Kate Buckley and Nick Simpson, General Practice, Lincoln, 2020
The Art of Isolation
Curated by Rod Kitson, Surrey Quays Shopping Centre, 2020
Swap Art Editions #5: ISLAND
Curated by Robin Tarbet. Creekside Arts, Deptford. And digital exhibition on www.skelf.org.uk, 2020
London Art Fair with Cynthia Corbett Gallery
Business Design Centre, Islington, 2020
Painting Open
No Format Gallery, Deptford, 2019
Perpetual Shift
Curated by Nicholas Dietrich, The Koppel Project, London, 2019
Hospital Rooms 20x20
Elephant West, London, 2019
humdrum, curated by Bruce Ingram
The Store, Dulwich College, 2019
Young Masters Art Prize
La Galleria Pall Mall, 2019
Wells Art Contemporary
Wells Cathedral, Somerset, 2019
Warbling Collective: We Can Only Have Fun on Certain Days
Stour Space, Hackney, London, 2019
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2018
touring exhibition, September 2018 - May 2019
"OverDrawn" Dark Yellow Dot Drawing Prize
Curated by London Drawing Group, Deptford, London. March - April 2019
ING Discerning Eye
The Mall Galleries, London, 2018
RCA Secret exhibitions
Royal College of Art, London, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Sketch to the Limits
Foyles Gallery London, 2012
Jerwood Drawing Prize 2011
Jerwood Space London and touring exhibition 2011
Selected Publications and articles
On The Overlooked and Forgotten, Interalia Magazine, 2019,
https://www.interaliamag.org/interviews/ruth-chambers/
Artist In Focus, Ruth Millington, 2018
https://ruthmillington.co.uk/ruth-chambers-envelope-art/
Keiran Goddard and Ruth Chambers, Strings, Antler Press, 2013, a joint poetry and photography project
Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, Drawing Projects: An Exploration of the Language of Drawing, Black Dog Publishing, 2011 (contributing artist)
Education
2006-7:
Master's History of Art and Visual Culture, University of Oxford
2003-06:
Combined Honours in Arts, University of Durham
2002-03:
Foundation Diploma in Fine Art, University of Gloucestershire