Working primarily in oil, Ruarí Milne explores the relationship between touch, colour and embodied experience. Rooted in the material qualities of paint, its warmth, tactility and resistance, her practice unfolds through an intuitive dialogue with the canvas, where colour is approached as something to be listened to as much as seen.
Her paintings emerge through a process of layering, washing, scratching, and erasure. Thin veils of oil are drawn across the surface before being cut back to reveal underlying light, while thicker passages of paint accumulate into forms that shift between gesture and structure. Working directly with her hands, Milne embraces the physical encounter between body and material, allowing each mark to develop through sustained attention to the painting's evolving surface.
Music plays an important role in shaping her practice. The sensitivity of touch required to play a single piano note, the improvisational rhythm of jazz, and the heightened awareness demanded by navigating whitewater all inform her understanding of painting as an act of presence. Rather than seeking control, the work develops through responsiveness, balancing intention with openness to the unexpected.
Drawing on the legacies of J.M.W. Turner, Gutai and lyrical abstraction, Milne investigates how colour, light and gesture can evoke experiences that are felt as much as perceived. The resulting works are not representations of place, but environments in themselves where movement, atmosphere and materiality invite a sustained and embodied encounter. Through this process, her practice reflects on what it means to be physically and emotionally present in the world.
Milne lives and works in London, UK.