Ruan is a self-taught printmaker and socially engaged artist/facilitator. They initially started printmaking during a long period of illness so that people would stop telling them to get a hobby, and have been doing it ever since. The are drawn to print due to its radical history and very embodied processes. Having never had access to a studio or professional printmaking equipment, Ruan has always made prints in a very DIY way - making them at home and using a metal spoon in place of a printing press. Most of their prints are a bit wonky and that is how they like them.

Ruan's work commonly explores themes around social justice, community activism and place, taking inspiration from traditional folk/outsider and modern protest art. More recently, they have started exploring their experiences of chronic illness, neurodiversity and gender/queerness and the broader social contexts these exist within. Inseparable from their individual practice, Ruan is passionate about creating art collaboratively and has facilitated participatory projects in a wide range of different community settings.

Because very few people can make a living just doing art, Ruan also does lots of other freelancy bits such as arts administration, community engagement, project managment and access support work.