A native New Yorker, Ellen is fascinated with paper and color, multiples, collage and boxes from childhood. Paper dolls and their clothes, images from packaged goods and magazines, stamps and alphabets all appealed to her. It's something about finding and accumulating these items that brings the magic of her artwork to life.
She now creates collage and assemblage works with textiles, wood, glass, shell, metal and various found objects. Original works on paper, beads or stones might be incorporated. Hand sewn bundles wrapped with cord or string are important in her pieces.
The materials she chooses speaks to her love of texture, attention to detail, love of nature and a visceral need to join unlikely items together for the first time.
In doing so, she re-creates a story, an environment and thought from the past or future. Remnants from a memory or to take on a journey, special items guarded and held with care in one’s pocket perhaps along with notes, invented symbols and motifs all become part of a larger social context and provide pathways for our personal passages.
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A Q&A with Ellen Devens:
Q: How did you get started?
A: I started my work as a young child. I used to make dioramas out of shoe boxes. I was creating imaginary worlds.
Q: What role does the artist have in society?
A: For me, the artist, like a library, represents democracy and freedom. It enables viewers to think, see an alternate perspective & find their truth/voice.
Q: What is integral to your work as an artist?
A: The components and elements; A piece of fabric, old chain, thread, a beautiful piece of wood - often times these elements find me.
Q: What inspires you when it comes to your work?
A: Texture, color, materials and when I assemble unlikely items and they align with each other like they were meant to be together. I love thread because its a line and connects
Q: What artists do you enjoy?
A: Robert Rauschenberg, Pierre Bonnard, Raoul Dufy, Romare Bearden, Lee Ufan
Q: When sharing your work with the public, what is it that you want to express with them the most? What is your takeaway or goal when doing public collaboration?
A: I want people to feel at ease, for their hearts to smile because they remember a memory, event or idea and see something that brings them joy because all things can be transformed just as our journeys develop one day at a time.
In Affiliation with:
The Textile Study Group of NY
For more information please see their website here: www.tsgny.org
The Artist:
For more information about the artist, please refer to her website found here.