Project Room: Out of the Woods: Stewart Swan
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RHODES presents Out of the Woods, a collection of six portraits by Glasgow-based artist Stewart Swan.
Grounded in folklore and filtered through a contemporary lens, Out of the Woods brings together familiar creatures and distant myths, inviting viewers to encounter them anew. This new series follows the success of his 2024 and 2025 solo exhibitions at RHODES.
Swan’s portraits present brightly coloured anthropomorphic figures in his signature semi-surreal, semi-grotesque style. Each portrait represents an animal character from myth or folklore. Presented in a classic three-quarter pose, the portraits echo those of historical figures, emphasising the character and presence of each subject. The creatures’ human expressions reveal subtle hints of the roles and qualities associated with them: attentiveness, cunning, endurance, grace, curiosity, and quiet independence.
Having spent years developing his distinctive painting style, Swan uses oil paints to create his textural figures, scraping and folding the paint over itself to create delicate line work and textures of fur and teeth. His figures are as much portraits of animals as they are studies of the human expression. A slight curve of a lip or the squint of an eye can completely alter the character and emotion of the subject. Taking inspiration from the people he meets in his native city of Glasgow, Swan is a master of emotion; we know these figures are animals, but their real expressions make them distinctly human.
Out of the Woods brings together Swan’s long-standing interest in folklore and portraiture, creating a space where animal characters become familiar and human. Through texture, expression, and subtle gesture, these figures sit somewhere between myth and reality. They invite us to look closely, recognise ourselves in their expressions, and reconsider these mythologies as real, lived characters.
About the works:
Yutu
In East Asian folklore, Yutu is the Moon Rabbit, a gentle figure said to live on the moon preparing the elixir of immortality. Yutu represents compassion, patience, and quiet devotion, embodying strength through humility rather than force.
Reynard
Reynard is a fox of medieval European folklore, known for intelligence, adaptability, and sharp wit. Neither hero nor villain, Reynard survives through cunning, often revealing the contradictions and hypocrisies of the world around him.
Bjørn
Bjørn comes from Old Norse tradition, where the bear was revered as a powerful forest ancestor. Associated with endurance, protection, and deep memory, the bear was once believed to stand close to humanity, bridging the wild and the familiar.
Oisín
In Irish mythology, Oisín’s name means “little deer”, reflecting his deep connection to the natural world. A warrior and poet, he is known for crossing between realms, with the deer long symbolising grace and otherworldly passage.
Ratatoskr
Ratatoskr is a messenger in Norse mythology, carrying words and tensions between distant realms along the world tree. Small yet essential, the squirrel represents movement, connection, and restless energy within a larger system.
Taghan
Taghan is an old Gaelic name for the pine marten, an elusive woodland animal linked to stealth, intelligence, and hidden forest life. Rarely seen, it carries an air of independence and quiet mystery.
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Selected works
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Collecting
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