Ian Phillips McLaren (b. 1960) is a British contemporary artist, his varied practice combines contemporary and 19th century photographic processes, video, sculpture, performance and animation.

His body of work examines dementia as a state of being, memory, personal identity and the construction of self in our visual culture, portraiture and self-representation.

Ian’s current work, The ‘Self’ & The ‘Other’ is an exploration of the ‘Self’ through the lens of ancient Roman portraiture – The ‘Other’ referring to the ways in which identities are formed.

“By combining traditional 5×4 inch analogue paper negatives of my self with hybrid digital negatives of ancient Roman portraits and fragments, I’m re-imagining the historical self-portrait, in a similar vein to how the Romans re-imagined (Hellenistic) Greek art for their own purposes”.

In The Mist

“Walking through forests and mists instilled a sense of apprehension in me. I always felt a presence of something bigger and greater than me and that I’m not alone”.

I’ve tried to capture and project the essence of these feelings into my images and am fascinated by others’ reaction to them – do they find them sinister, ethereal, magical or calming?

Fine art prints
Most of the images on this website can be purchased as a fine art prints. Email me for details, if you can’t find your image in the shop.

In The Mist Series