Ruby Kester’s work centres around two parallel strands: visual art and writing, and takes inspiration from ancient history, ecology, philosophy, and religion. These interests provide a strong foundation of ideas from which she explores the influence of nature on the self, connecting to themes that cross cultures and span human history. Working at the intersection of language and art, Ruby’s work takes many forms, including stained glass painting, large-scale drawings, artist books, and printmaking. She is particularly drawn to clouds and rays of light.
Ruby graduated from University of the Arts London, Chelsea College, in 2021 with a 1st Class BA (Hons) in Fine Art, and she has completed short courses in Ethnographic Documentary at the Granada Centre, Manchester University; the Anthropology of Religion at Goldsmiths University; and Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford. She has received funding from the Gane Trust and the Eaton Fund. Based in the South-West of England, she has shown work both in the UK and abroad.
B. 1997, London, UK
Instagram: @ruby.kester
EXHIBITIONS
SITE Exhibition, John Street Gallery, Stroud, November 2025
SITE Festival Open Studios, SVA, Stroud, June 2025
Bodyline, Lansdown Gallery, Stroud, October 2024
SITE Festival Open Studios, SVA, Stroud, June 2024
SITE Festival Taster Exhibition, John Street Gallery, Stroud, June 2024
Bealtaine Dew, Goods Shed, Stroud, May 2024
A Home Away From Home, NG Art Creative Residency, France, October 2023
Gloaming, Weven, Stroud, February 2023
Immaculate Creation, John Street Gallery, Stroud, September 2022
EDUCATION
Chelsea College of Arts (UAL), London — BA (Hons)Fine Art, 1st Class, September 2018 - July 2021
South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, Stroud — Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, Distinction*, Level 4 Award, September 2016 - July 2017
AWARDS AND FUNDING
The Eaton Fund, October 2025
The Gane Trust, September 2025
New Brewery Arts Bursary, 12 week Stained Glass Course, Summer 2025
Slow Ways UK, August 2024
PUBLICATIONS
Slow Ways Stories, June 2025
SITE Festival Open Studios Catalogue, Introduction, June 2024
The Floating Circle, May 2024
t’Art Magazine, Issue 6, 2024
Good on Paper, Various Issues, November 2020 - 2024
Stroud Short Stories Anthology, 2015
RESIDENCIES
Growing Places AIR, Common Soil Community Farm, May 2025
Mayes Creative Residency, Dartmoor, November 2024
THISS24 Writer in Residence, Amberley, June 2024
WEVEN Artist Residency, Stroud, December 2022 - February 2023
WORKSHOPS / OTHER RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Assisting Stained Glass Artist Johannes Steuck, November 2025 - ongoing
Terrestrial Tales Chapter 2, Workshop series, Athens, September 2025
Freelance Artist Assisting, 2021 - ongoing
SHORT COURSES
SGS College, Stroud — AdvancedStained Glass, January 2026 (10 weeks)
SGS College, Stroud — AdvancedStained Glass, September 2025 (10 weeks)
New Brewery Arts, Cirencester — Stained Glass, May 2025 (12 weeks)
University of Oxford, Remote — Introduction to Social Anthropology, October 2022 (10 weeks)
Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology, Manchester — Ethnographic Documentary, June 2022 (2 weeks, intensive)
Goldsmiths University, London — Myth, Ritual, and Magic: The Anthropology of Religion, November 2019 (10 weeks)