* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
Ian conjures remarkably detailed portraits and urban landscapes using nothing more than discarded jeans. Over many weeks he cuts, stitches and glues using only the varying shades of the fabric to provide contrast and shadow. The effect is extraordinary.
Ian’s denim epiphany came during a trip back to his childhood home in Huddersfield. During a big clear-out session, Ian found himself staring at a big pile of unwanted jeans destined for the charity shop. Affectionate memories came flooding back, along with a wave of tactile enthusiasm for the fabric. At that point, he knew he’d found the key to his artistic career.
Ian began his artistic experiments with denim while working as an art director in London and Sydney. Despite building a successful career and creating campaigns for brands such as Nissan, Guinness and Talisker Whiskey, the call of the rivets and seams was too deafening to ignore.
Eventually, the public caught on and Ian enjoyed enough commercial success to devote himself full time to his art. He had two near sell-out shows in Sweden, his new adopted home, and also showed in the US and Portugal. His work has since sold across Europe, America, the Middle East and Australasia to private, public and corporate collections, and has been featured in innumerable art and fashion magazines from Elle to Playboy and interviewed on Swedish TV.
