Ellie Young
The root of my enquiry is the interaction between reality and fiction and the interplay between subject and surface within the act of painting. I explore layers of representation through figurative works, most often different kinds of portraits. Inspiration comes from films, real-life and internet image searches. The work comes in series’ where paintings inform and engage each other, I use repetition as an opportunity to play with mark-making and the formal elements of painting. Recent work includes a complete history of space travel in tiny portraits, portraits of every member of the house of lords, cutouts of screaming women, paintings of crowds and cut outs based on real figures from the American west (all ongoing). I think that the challenge with painting people is in the convergence of the dynamic and the static, the fugitive expressions of the face coupled with its more longstanding character. I am increasingly interested in the drawing process and the way use of materials inform an artwork.
Solo Exhibitions
Jan 2018 – Changing Faces – Oriel Mwldan, Cardigan
April 2016 – Frontiers – Arcade Cardiff, Cardiff
September 2013- One Hour Portrait Studio- Residency, Degree Art Execution Room, London
August 2012- Same Place Different Time- ArcadeCardiff, Queens Arcade, Cardiff
Selected Group Exhibitions
Feb 2019 - Flatten / Score - Curated by Periclo for Shelf @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay
Sept 2018 - Unit(e) 2018 -g39 Cardiff
July 2018 - Night Swimming - Mission Gallery Swansea (with Lle Gallery)
Nov 2017 – NOVA Prize – RCA Conwy
Nov 2017 – People; What are they like? – DÉDA, Derby
Nov 2017 – ING Discerning Eye – Mall Gallery, London
April 2017 – Beyond Likeness – Cardiff MADE
August 2016 – Portrait 16 – Degreeart, London
April 2016 – Oriel Davies Open- Oriel Davies, Newtown
March 2016 – Lynn Painter Stainers Prize Exhibition – The Mall, London
April 2015 – Staring at the Sea – Penarth Pier Pavillion, Penarth
November 2014 – Semi Fiction – BayArt, Cardiff with Stephen Young
August 2013- Do What You Will This World Is A Fiction – Oriel Canfas, Cardiff (With James Green and Freya Dooley)
Portrait Painting Projects
Oct 2017 – 15 Minute Portraits – Adnan’s Continental Store, Made in Roath
April 2017 – 15 Minute Portraits – Rhiwgarn Stores, Trebanog Project
June 2016 – Portraits on Plates – Roath Feast, G39 Cardiff
March 2016 – Remarkable Women of Wales Portrait Painting – WOWCaerdydd, Millennium Centre, Cardiff
November 2015 – Beer Mat Portraits – 2 day Residency at The Roath Park Tavern, Made in Roath Festival, Cardiff
October 2014- Beer Mat Portraits – 2 Day Residency at The Roath Park Tavern, Made in Roath Festival, Cardiff
May 2013- 15 Minute Portraits – Made in Spring, Milkwood Gallery, Cardiff
April 2013- 15 Minute Portraits – Art Car Bootique, Chapter Art Centre, Cardiff
October 2012 – Street Portraits – Cardiff Contemporary, The Hayes, Cardiff
Talks
March 2013 Artist Talk – Porthcawl Pavilion, Porthcawl
Education
BA Hons Fine Art, 1st Class, Cardiff School of Art and Design, 2011
BA Hons Film and American Studies, 2:1, University of East Anglia, 2006