Ruth Fildes – Visual Artist & Art Educator

Artist Biography

Ruth Fildes is a Manchester-based fine artist and educator whose multidisciplinary practice spans sculpture, assemblage, and drawing. With a background in Graphic Arts and an MA in Artist Teaching (Distinction), her work explores the intersection of personal experience and societal critique – particularly the undervaluation of women’s labour and the emotional weight of imposed roles. Ruth has exhibited nationally, including at HOME Manchester, The Old Lockup Gallery, and Saul Hay Gallery. She has held residencies at Inch Arts and contributed to public art projects such as Trooping the Corgis. Alongside her practice, she is a dedicated art educator, with over 20 years of experience inspiring and supporting young artists.

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Artist Statement

Fildes’ practice is rooted in self-reflection and social commentary, using marionette-based sculpture, repurposed dolls, and salvaged domestic materials to explore themes of control, resilience, and identity. Her work interrogates the tension between autonomy and expectation, often drawing on childhood experiences and cultural conditioning. Through tactile processes such as stitching, casting, and assemblage, she elevates discarded objects into vessels of memory and protest. Whether through fragile porcelain masks or diaristic sketchbook drawings, her work invites viewers to confront the quiet complexities of labour, worth, and emotional endurance.

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Website: ruthfildes.com

Instagram: @ruth_fildes_art and @ruth_fildes_artist

Email: rjfildes@gmail.com