My creative practice spans contemporary mixed‑media projects, classic photography, and experimental video sculpture. Current works such as A Moment’s Existence and Fractured Whispers explore themes of mortality, myth, and transformation, merging photographic foundations with painting, sculpture, and narrative forms.
Self & the Other / This ongoing series of self-portraits explores the construction of identity through the lens of ancient Roman portraiture. Blending self-portrait photography with classical references and draws on theories of the self and the other — exploring how identity is shaped through cultural ideals, memory, and inherited visual forms.
Fractured Whispers / In the heart of these ancient Celtic / Atlantic rainforest’s is where the veil between the worlds is thinnest! I can almost hear the murmurs of bygone tales, resonating through the ages and igniting the imagination of bards and storytellers. Each branch tells a story, every leaf
Beyond The Edge / Beyond The Edge began unexpectedly one New Year’s morning when a thunderstorm drifted in over breakfast. Coffee in hand, I felt ready for whatever the year might bring, so on impulse I grabbed my camera, jumped in the car, and followed the storm. Growing up in
Gwen – “Did I Want To Be Here” / Gwen is a 5’6″ (1.7 m) tall 16 panel gum birchromate print and was made for ‘Squaring the Circles of Confusion: Neo-Pictorialism in the 21st Century’ exhibition at the Royal Photographic Society. “Did I Want To Be Here?” were the last
In The Mist / In the mist, the world becomes a threshold — familiar forms blur, silence thickens, and imagination takes hold. This series follows that experience, returning to the primal emotion of stepping into the unknown for the first time. Whether in woodland, across empty fields, or along forgotten
Self-i / The selfie is a millennial social phenomenon. Once the sole domain of teenagers, it has now permeated our culture on a grand scale — arguably distorting how we perceive ourselves and how we want to be perceived, as we turn the camera in on ourselves. In this project,
Walk In The Woods / Walk in the Woods traces a formative moment of transition in my childhood. At ten years old, my family moved from the bustling city streets of Glasgow to the quiet expanse of the Ayrshire countryside — a dramatic shift from the familiar to the unknown.
Pear / The pear has a multiplicity of meanings and has been used in art as a symbol as far back as the Romans on the walls of Pompeii. Gothic and Early Renaissance painters used the pear to represent marital faith but it also symbolized inner peace. In some cultures
True Colours Made over one autumn, True Colours began with leaves collected from the ground in my garden. The leaves were photographed and printed, and the prints were pinned directly to open frames. As the green recedes, other colours emerge — not added, but revealed. The work reflects on beauty,
A Moment’s Existence / A Moment’s Existence is an exploration of identity, memory, and the transient, fragile nature of life. This project questions what it means to be alive, dissolving the boundaries between mediums. Beneath each image lies a veiled structure – grisaille and glaze, memory and matter – through
The ‘Self’ and The ‘Other’ – Sculptures / This series of self-portraits, is an exploration of the ‘Self’ through the lens of ancient Roman portraiture – The ‘Other’ referring to the ways in which identities are formed. These sculptures are an extension of my Roman portraiture series – The ‘Self’
You Are A Virus – Continuous Cycle / A meditative video installation exploring time, transmission, and suffering, You Are a Virus loops a live‑recorded Buddha back onto itself — a continuous cycle reflecting humanity’s role as both creator and carrier of its own suffering. Origin You Are a Virus began
Self Portrait/ There’s Someone in My Head… / Self Portrait / There’s Someone in My Head… is an investigation of the inner ‘self’ through a Jungian lens. First exhibited at the Venice Experimental Video and Performing Art Festival (2022), the installation transforms psychological exploration into a multi-sensory experience. Phillips McLaren
Various Animations / I crafted these dynamic, immersive animations in Adobe After Effects, bringing some ideas to life. https://vimeo.com/694355015https://vimeo.com/694446287https://vimeo.com/694450458https://vimeo.com/694364726https://vimeo.com/694360083
Images for Book Covers, Album Artwork & Editorial Projects Much of my work lends itself naturally to book covers, album artwork, and editorial use — images that suggest narrative, atmosphere, and emotional tone rather than literal description. Working across photography and mixed-media processes, I’m drawn to images that feel unresolved,
Alternative Processes
© 2025 — Ian Phillips-McLaren. All Rights Reserved.