KATRINA ELLIS
Katrina Ellis’ mixed-media works explore themes of memory, mortality, longing and alienation. Pulling from traditions of craft, storytelling and mythos, she works in series, creating artworks that inform each other and imply a greater narrative when viewed together. Recent works explore the realm where memory and dreams are blurred. The subjects of both her drawings and objects draw from the natural world but often cross over to the supernatural or mythic, utilizing a subtlety that may allow the content to appear deceptively simple at first glance. As a creative only-child, Ellis grew up looking for the magic in the everyday, and these works attempt to unveil the possibilities of the flexible reality human consciousness grasps at while simultaneously trying to recapture the wonder of looking at the world through child-like eyes. Ellis is influenced greatly the human propensity to view life through narratives: visual art, cinematic works and music all play into this desire. Contemporary pop-culture undoubtedly plays a large role in her ideas of a creative culture, most remarkably the music that is her constant companion in the process of creation. Katrina Ellis was born in rural Central New York State in 1981. After receiving her BFA from Pratt Institute in 2003, she continued to reside in Brooklyn until relocating to the Hudson Valley in 2012. She currently resides in Providence, Rhode Island.