Ruth Ewan’s prodigious output, which is largely focused on social history and interaction, consists of public works, installations, group art-making activities, performance, and other media. Exposing contradictions and paradoxes within the way people use language, remember history, and relate to one another, Ewan’s work extrapolates from bits of urban architecture or social geography to find important lessons in how we navigate culture and one another. 

One of Ewan's most notable works was the 2011 project A LOCK IS A GATE, which was commissioned by London’s Art on the Underground. For the project, Ewan created a concept album, drawings, a book, and public art that riffed on the idea that architectural constructions are at once urban barriers and passages.

Ewan has been included in several large exhibitions around the world since 2000, including shows at the Zabludowicz Collection in London, the Folkestone Triennial, Art Sheffield, the Tate Triennial, the New Museum in New York, Frieze Projects, the Kunsthall Oslo, and London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts. Ewan has also executed projects for Dundee Contemporary Arts and London's Artangel. She has participated in numerous residencies and fellowships, such as the Yorkshire Artspace Residency, the Triangle Arts Trust Residency in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and the Cocheme Fellowship at the Byam Shaw School of Art, among others.