Ellen Rolli:

I am a contemporary acrylic painter, my approach is direct, expressive and intuitive. My subjects have ranged from still life to landscape to the figure.

My process involves an instinctive use of materials, which allows for more freedom, more risk taking.

I favor a variety in mark making and paint application such as thin areas of paint, thick brushstrokes of rich color, building layers or scraping through. As the painting evolves, I react to the dialogue between us.

For many years I considered my work abstracted realism, the subject matter serving only as a starting point, a stimulus for the painting process. My search was not, is not, for the literal truth of subject but an expressive and emotional reaction to it. It is important to allow the painting to take on a life of its own. Recently, my paintings have shifted to an even more abstracted interpretation of reality.

The creative act never ceases to fascinate me, each new canvas a new experience, an adventure. To quote artist Edward Corbett, “to be an adventurer you have to accept a certain mystery about the end of things." For me, the unknowns of the process make for a journey of self discovery and a more meaningful painting experience.

>> View Press Release (07.19.2011)

ARTIST BIO

 

Ellen maintains a full time studio/gallery in the SoWa arts district in the South End of Boston. She is an artist member of the Copley Society of Art of Boston. The Copley Society awarded Ellen a month long painting residency at the Fine Arts Works Center of Provincetown, Massachusetts which she completed in the fall of 2009.

She conducts one day painting workshops in her studio twice monthly. An article about her workshops was published in the 2008 Summer issue of American Artist Workshop Magazine.

Ellen’s work has been exhibited in Massachusetts galleries, art associations and venues such as Boston hotels, restaurants and retail businesses. She has had several solo exhibitions including a Red Room exhibition at the Copley Society of Art.

She has been the recipient of many awards and her paintings are held in numerous private collections in the United States and abroad. Ellen is featured in an upcoming book titled “ 100 New England Artists”.

The Copley Society of Art recently promoted Ellen to Copley Artist status. Ellen's work was accepted into the 2010 American Art Collector book.