Ellie Walker
Based Essex, UK
Through my recent practice I have been exploring how past and present experiences trigger the feelings of anxiety and how I use painting and drawing to understand and confront these feelings. The emotive element of recalling a memory has become an important aspect within my work and is the foundation of where my ideas begin.
Initially, I create drawings through a combination of observation, memory, imagination and photographs to create narratives that are inspired and influenced by the experiences of my day to day life. After creating various drawings in which I have re-used and re-arranged the collected motifs, the narratives become something new altogether, creating disorganised and fragmented realities.
Stylistically my work is similar to the diary-like drawings children make to describe their daily lives. I do this in a falsely naive way, using my drawings as guidelines to start a painting. I then begin to allow the experimentation of colour and the application of paint to be my main form of guidance. This leads to new settings and accidental forms and figures being created, which further modifies and disrupts the narratives of the work.
The paintings as a result are not accurate representations of my personal experiences, but are instead my reactions to situations that have triggered feelings of anxiety. They are visual diary entries of how I perceive particular memories, which through drawing and painting allows me to challenge and confront these issues.
Education
- 2017: BA (Hons) Fine Art Painting – University of Brighton
- 2014: Foundation Diploma – Arts University Bournemouth
Selected Exhibitions & Awards
- 2017: Artiq, ‘The Graduate Art Prize’, London
- 2017: ‘State your Case’, 5th Space Gallery, London
- 2017: ‘Graduate Show 2017’, Grand Parade, Brighton
- 2017: ‘Fashioning the Frame’, Edward Street, Brighton
- 2016: ‘Stretch’, Grand Parade, Brighton
- 2015: ‘End of Year Show 2015’, Arts University Bournemouth, Bournemouth
Press
- https://artmazemag.com/autumn-issue-9/
- Feb 2018: ‘Friend of the Artist’ magazine, Issue 5
Credentials
- Featured in relevant press
- Represented by gallery
Purchase artwork by Ellie Walker
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Achievements & Goals
- Graduating university
- Being shortlisted for the Graduate Art Prize 2017
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Genre & Style
- Falsely naive
- Childlike
- Figurative and abstract
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Inspiration & Vision
- Animals
- Percy the Park Keeper and Wind in the Willows
- Peoples interactions and reactions to social situations
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Technique & Material
- Acrylic and oil paint
- Oil bar
