WILD & UNTAMED 2019
Bio
Ellie Rose is an MFA graduate from the University of South Carolina and a BFA graduate from Virginia Tech. Ellie’s work explores ideas of escapism and fantasy as a means to create imaginary worlds. Ellie is from Buffalo Junction, Virginia, a small rural community in southeast Virginia. After receiving her BFA in painting from Virginia Tech, Ellie began exploring other mediums and materials at The University of South Carolina. Nature, wildlife, and magic have always inspired Ellie and she carries these influences into every work she creates. Ellie primarily focuses on creating fantasy worlds full of creatures and people to negate the traumas of a human existence. Using her artwork as a therapeutic process, Ellie finds peace in the creation of her fantastical worlds and the characters that inhabit them.
Wild & Untamed Artist Statement
Painting and drawing have always been a constant in my life; but for the last several years, I have embraced a variety of art making mediums and techniques. Fantasy, escapism, and the untamed imagination steer my creative journey through a conversation involving existentialism, magic, femininity, and the importance of experiencing and living life authentically.
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For a long time, I painted elaborate colorful imaginary worlds populated with magical creatures, utopian spaces that operate according to my ideals of kindness, equality, and acceptance. Currently, I am creating a new collection of paintings that express the darker side of my reality. My new paintings and sculptural work are both more frightening and less comforting.
The subjects and concepts present in my artworks are reflections of myself and my experiences in life. Magic, folklore, mythology, animals, and nature inspire me. A key figure in my work is the Wild Woman, who thrives on freedom, independence, adventure, and refusing the mundanity of everyday life. She exists outside social constraints and cannot be tamed or groomed by the expectations of other people.
WILD AND UNTAMED 2019
