EDUCATION

2004 – 2006
New York Studio School, Studied with Graham Nickson

1998
Parsons School of Design, Certificate in Graphic Design

1993
Denison University, Bachelor of Fine Arts


1992
Studio Arts Centers International, Florence Italy

EXHIBITIONS

2016 
New Work, Mixed Media, Solo Exhibition, 2 Rivington Street, New York, NY (April) 

2015 
3 Jurors = 3 Shows, Curated by Jason Andrew, Yevgeniga Baras and Fred Valentine, New York Studio School Alumni Show, New York, NY (August - September)
Art installation,141 Wooster, Solo Exhibition, 141 Wooster Street, New York, NY (April - May)

Between the Bridges, Works by Quogue and East Quogue Artists, Quogue Library Gallery, Quogue, NY (March)
Alphabet Project, Friends Seminary Art Auction, Group Exhibition and Auction, New York, NY (March)

2014 
Quogue Library Gallery, BOX + ART: An exhibit & auction of BOX art by East End artists. Group exhibition. Quogue, NY (November)
Alphabet Project, Friends Seminary Art Auction, Group Exhibition and Auction, New York, NY (March)

2013 
Quogue Library Gallery, Tray Jolie: and exhibit and auction of tray art by East End Artists. Group Exhibition, Quogue, NY (November)

Friends Seminary Art Auction, Alphabet Project, New York, NY

2012 
An Exhibition to Support Breast Cancer Awareness. Quogue Library Gallery, Group Exhibition. Quogue, NY (October)

2003 
Figurative bodies, National Arts Club, Group Exhibition, New York, NY (June)

FORTHCOMING EXHIBITIONS

2015
Presenting Ellen Ball Curated by LOOC ART, Solo Show, Foundrae Showrooms, New York, NY (December)

COLLECTIONS

Works held in private collections in: New York, NY; Brooklyn, NY; Quogue, NY; Saratoga, NY, New Canaan, CT Greenwich, CT; Portland, ME; Newport Beach, CA; Honolulu, Hawaii; Toronto, Ontario

ABOUT

Ellen Ball makes large-scale mixed media paintings rendered on Belgian linen, featuring iconic female forms, elaborate patterns, and inspired uses of metal leaf, cutting, collage, and oil paints.

Utilizing a self-discovered process, she works with found or appropriated imagery. She photoshops, cuts, collages, layers, or draws on these creating a new composition, which is then transferred onto canvas. This process leaves behind black ink and reveals a natural degradation. Provident imperfections occur and new shapes and textures present themselves. This creates a wholly original interpretation of the original. Often Ball adds oil paint, oil stick, reflective silver, lacquer, or gold leaf, connecting the tapestry-like patterning to the figure itself. The result is a highly textural surface, filled with visual tension and questions of interpretation. Deliberate juxtapositions and purposefully degraded, re-purposed imagery prompt questions about beauty, women, perfection, and issues surrounding contemporary icon “worship,” devotional imagery, and the pressures these put on 21st century women. 

Ball’s work is inspired by such contemporary artistic influences as Marilyn Minter, Mickalene Thomas, Christopher Wool, and Elizabeth Peyton but also stretches back to Warhol, Matisse, Botticelli, and the gold ground paintings of the early Renaissance. The work references graphic design, Arabic tiles and mosaics, fashion photography, and the barrage of disposable imagery in today’s media. All of these call to mind cultivated interpretations of perfection, beauty, the female form, sex symbols, icons, and idols. 

Ball’s background as a graphic designer and illustrator for the beauty industry influences her work and is evident in her choices of imagery and application. She searches for odalisques, concubines, sex symbols and lingerie models: women empowered or entrapped by their sheer womanliness. She is interested in the tension between our quest for, and worship of beauty, and the effects it has on women and society at large.