Ruth Ige: Woven realms

kó is pleased to present Woven realms, a solo exhibition by Ruth Ige. Titled after a line from the artist’s poem, the exhibition brings together paintings and works on paper whose narratives weave across aspects of art, history, precolonial practices, mythology, speculative fiction, fashion, African culture, and diaspora. 

Ruth Ige’s paintings construct mythical spaces where silhouetted figures, predominantly women, inhabit worlds that feel at once earthly and otherworldly. Their individual facial features remain indecipherable, while flowing, voluminous garments give their bodies an expanded presence. Some hold poses that recall the conventions of classical portraiture, while others drift through expansive landscapes. Working in varying shades of blue, Ige moves between indigo, midnight tones, and pale washes, creating environments that suggest gardens, bodies of water, and night skies. In works on paper, this blue palette takes on a material dimension through the use of West African indigo (Philenoptera cyanescens) dried pigment, alongside Ugu, Uziza, and Bitterleaf (Ewuro/Onugbu) dried leaves. 

For Ige, these paintings represent a timeless space where real and fictional realms weave together simultaneously. As Ige explains: “The act of weaving demonstrates this idea that something has many parts and is made from many parts. Though these paintings are not woven in the traditional sense they hold various emotions and parts flowing and ever changing. They show joy, but also pain. Sorrow, but also victory. They show the multiplicity and complexity of life.”

Ruth Ige (b. 1992) was born in Ilé-Ifẹ̀, Nigeria, and lives and works in Auckland, New Zealand. She received a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Auckland University of Technology in 2016. Recent solo exhibitions include The evocation of worlds at Te Uru, Auckland (2026); The poetic notions of blue: A haven at McLeavey Gallery, Wellington (2025); And you are of the heavens and of the earth at Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town (2024); Between Two Dimensions at Roberts Projects, Los Angeles (2022); and Freedom’s recurring dream at Stevenson Gallery, Johannesburg (2022). Duo exhibitions include Acts of Rest with Esther Ige at Season Aotearoa (2025) and A Place Apart with Christina Pataialii, City Gallery Wellington (2020).

Ige participated in the 36th São Paulo Biennale in 2025, and her work has been included in group exhibitions at Whangārei Art Museum, Whangarei (2026); Museu Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba (2026); Bode Gallery, Havana (2024); Melanie Roger Gallery, Auckland (2024); Auckland Art Gallery (2024); Andrew Kreps, New York (2024); Stevenson,Cape Town (2024; 2023; 2021); McLeavey Gallery, Wellington (2020); Karma, New York (2019); Te Wai Ngutu Kākā gallery, Auckland (2019); The Vivian, Matakana (2018); RM Gallery, Auckland (2017); and Artspace Aotearoa, Auckland (2017). She is the recipient of the 2025 Rydal Art Prize presented by Te Uru Contemporary Gallery, Auckland.