Notes

Ruby Swinney, an artist based in Cape Town, is renowned for her sensitive oil paintings on silk and tracing paper that transport viewers into an unfamiliar realm teeming with enigmatic apparitions, akin to a 'parallel universe.' In her depictions of semi-recognisable, timeless landscapes, she populates the scenes with figures embodying an otherworldly quality. Through her ethereal artworks, she captures a sense of uncertainty and a yearning for a vanishing natural world. Swinney's utilisation of a monochrome palette intensifies this sentiment, enveloping each composition in a nostalgic haze that pines for an alternative past.¹

^1. https://www.artsy.net/artwork/ruby-swinney-the-escapist, accessed 15 August 2023.

Provenance

WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town, 2020.

Private Collection.