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Mixed Media, Ink on Paper
Size: 27.6 W x 39.8 H x 0.8 D in
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Swirled - made with an original process developed in-studio using paper pulp or 'cellulose'. (Size includes frame). Part of 'Spread Too Thin' - a series of 18 conceptual works in paper. Never to be made into prints. Cellulose spread and swirled and tinted with blue ink, dried and mounted. Symbolic of the swirling feeling of being overwhelmed. On one hand, hyper-productivity, hustle culture and social media bombardment demand we work harder and longer...on the other hand, the looming global recession spreads thin our resources so we have less with which to do more. Furthering the pursuit of using paper to represent the human experience, 'Spread Too Thin' is a series of works on/in paper which illustrates the effect of overextending ourselves. Cellulose, named to reflect its composition of cells, is the industrial name for paper pulp from which paper is made. Thus, paper is a profound metaphor for people because our fundamental structural unit is also the cell. When handled and impressed upon, paper responds in much the same way people do; buckling, weakened, pierced, tattered and wrinkled. When spread too thin, people become fragile, frayed at the edges, buckling under pressure and vulnerable. This series is a minimalist, symbolic reflection of the experience we all encounter when we take on too much, try too hard to impress others by pushing ourselves beyond healthy limits and overextending ourselves. Each piece is an example of a different way of spreading cellulose and the various effects created. They are named in the way of the post-minimalist, process art of Richard Serra - for the gesture used to effect the result. Many of the resulting 'papers' carry surface textures like skin which heightens the analogy and some have inks added, highlighting the dynamic movement of the material. The artist wants you to consider...what happens when you spread yourself too thin?
2022
Ink on Paper
One-of-a-kind Artwork
27.6 W x 39.8 H x 0.8 D in
Other
Yes
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Valerie Ellis is an artist, formerly a psychotherapist, living near London. She makes abstract expressionist oil paintings and works on paper. Valerie gained her degree in psychology from the prestigious University of Queensland, Australia where she lived for decades after moving from the UK where she grew up. Retiring from psychology after 20 years in private practice, attuned to intrapersonal dynamics, Valerie’s artwork uniquely reflects psychological themes like the effect of context and childhood on people, and how art communicates human needs symbolically. Returning to the UK in 2019, Valerie also returned to her artistic practice. Motivated by her own emotionally deprived childhood and sympathy for her clients, Valerie Ellis’ work continues to express her concern for psychological issues and for the welfare of those who suffer emotionally. "My art career started, as it tends to for artists, with childhood talent, with realistic drawing. Later, I taught myself oil painting but remained allied to representational work. In 2020, I felt a tension between the pleasure of making beautiful portrait paintings admired by others and making artwork with more depth and purpose...after all...the world has enough pretty pictures, doesn't it? So, I studied the work of the mid-century abstract expressionists of the New York school...among the first to really challenge representation. I understood their motivation to say more about the things we can't see with our eyes...about the things we think and feel and yearn for. I created the first abstract work in 2020 and 2021 has seen that continue with the First Impressions series, exhibited at the Saatchi Art Other Art Fair, London. This work is the first I feel strongly has something important to say and is worthy of attention. More series are emerging from my studio in the same vein...symbolic and conceptual work that acknowledges the inner world."
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