Abela Ruben (b. 2001, Irinjalakuda, Kerala) completed her Master of Visual Arts (MVA) in Painting from The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat, in 2025 and Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Painting from the Govt. College of Fine Arts, Thrissur, Kerala, in 2023. She has also completed an apprenticeship under Mr. Soumen Das, an expert in pigments and binders, and a former student of Nilima Sheikh. She lives and works between Kerala and Baroda. Ruben’s practice draws from the immediate topography of her domicile, interior emotional states, and cinematic language. Her images possess a distinct theatricality, eliciting instinctive responses while emerging from moments of ambiguity, memory and cultural imagery. Reinterpreting fragmented experiences through images that hover between stillness and motion. Her geographic relocation from Kerala to Baroda for academic pursuits played an instrumental role in expanding both her visual lexicon and use of materials.
Academics
Masters in Visual arts in Painting from The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat (2023-25)
Bachelor of Fine arts in Painting from Govt. College of Fine Arts, Thrissur, Kerala (2019-23)
Exhibitions
Edible arrangements, Ether Project at India Art Fair Young Collectors’ Programme, Triveni Kala Sangam, Delhi, India in 2026
BARODA ANNUELLE ed.V, Gallery White, Baroda, Gujarat, India in 2026
IMAGINARIUM 5.0, Emami Art, Kolkata, India in 2025
Afterimage, a group exhibition, curated by Sudheesh Kottembram, part of an initiative by the Kerala Lalit Kala Academy, Kerala, India in 2025
Annual Degree show 2025 – Faculty of Fine Arts, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat, India in 2025
Everybody’s Elsewhere, curated by Yash Vikram, Dev Lalikar Kalavitika, Indore, India in 2025
Fifth edition of Gallery Dtale Archist, curated by Bose Krishnamachari, Bangalore, India in 2025
From Field to Frame, organised by Raju Patel, CONFLICTORIUM, Ahmedabad, India in 2024
Hold the dandelions, there is no one to be found; curated by Shristi Sainani, Gallery 27, Kochi, Kerala, India in 2024
Kochi Biennale Pavilion, Manorama Hortus curated by Sujith SN and Jalaja PS, Kozhikode, Kerala, India in 2024
Contextual Cosmologies, Keraleeyam 2023, compiled by Bose Krishnamachari and Sujith SN, Trivandrum, Kerala, India in 2023
51st & 50th State Exhibition - Kerala Lalit Kala Academy, Kerala, India in 2023
Workshops:
Viscosity Printmaking Workshop under Moutushi Chakraborty, Government College of Fine Arts, Thrissur, Kerala, India in 2023
Serigraphy Workshop with Nijeena Neelambaran, Government College of Fine Arts, Thrissur, Kerala, India in 2022
Papermaking Workshop under Anupam Chakraborty, Government College of Fine Arts, Thrissur, Kerala, India in 2022
Awards
Late Milind Madhukar Gold Medal and Narendra Gajanan Bhatt Gold Medal for academic excellence, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat, India in 2025
Recipient of Kerala Lalit Kala Academy scholarship for Bachelors and Masters Programmes, Kerala, India (2022, 2024)
Vijayaraghavan Endowment Gold Medal for Landscape painting, Kerala Lalit Kala Academy, Kerala, India in 2021
