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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
Whether rendered in charcoal, pastel, or oils, Ian Ingram’s enormous self-portraits are stirring explorations of humanity. The artist blends his realistic drawings with abstraction and surreal notes, yet consistently offers an intimate perspective in each work.
New York-based artist Ian Ingram uses primarily charcoal and pastels to render rich self-portraits filled with details normally almost invisible to the human eye. Ingram focuses his energy on the copious details in the skin, rendering the texture of each pore and pockmark. He uses primarily dark tones for his work, allowing the skin's texture to glisten as if reflecting the sun's rays at its lowest point just before it sets. While some of the portraits focus on the poignancy of the facial expression, others include surreal details such as embroidered geometric patterns. By way of subtle cues, Ingram's drawings communicate the nuances of our emotions and imaginations.