METAMORPHOSIS
Paint your way to freedom - to find the truth
With "Metamorphosis, Ellen Marie makes her debut in 2019 in Belgium.
The exhibition is a testimony of Ellen Marie's unwavering search for the essence of the human nature, a yearning to find the sublime within the ordinary. To her, painting is a way to find True Freedom, to grow from an imperfect to a more pure state. Every drawing and every painting seems to fan out, from a defined line to something much more vague, suggesting the detached, the tangible that slips to ephemeral. The preliminary work and sketches done before the creation of a work is almost more important than the finished work to Ellen Marie. In her sketchbook it is clear how she delves her mind to find the exact image that wishes to be manifested. It is in these fast notes that she mostly sees herself reflected
Therefore the greatest part of this book has been dedicated to the sketchbook she kept as she was preparing herself for "Metamorphosis", showing the road towards the finished work for the exhibition.
META
Blood Moon
July 2017
Blood Moon was one of the first paintings Ellen Marie finished after graduating from the Barcelona Academy of Arts. After three years of rigorous, methodological way of working focused entirely on technique, this painting represents the invitation of the creative flow back into her life.
The exalted expression on the figure's face and the gesture she puts forward exude power and extasy, as if receiving a blessing from above. The energy in this painting was very much influenced by the Blood Moon that coloured the sky during the night this work can to life.
70 x 77cm - Oil on linen
Los Amantes
July 2018
114x163cm
Oil on linen
July 2018
Caduce
December 2018
Derived from Caduceus, the alchemical symbol of unity. The gesture of her arms mirror the two snakes that entwine the traditionally known staff of Hermes. Her body itself serves as an axis between Heaven and Earth. She personifies the divine unity within all dualistic principles in the manifest universe, such as Sun and Moon, Male and Female, and exists as the perfect middle point between them.
87x104cm
Mixed media on linen
In Ovo
July 2018
Though at first hinting at the birth of a new earthling, the voluptuous contours of the female fetus in this painting describe those of an adult woman. An unusual kind of birth is taking place here: this human is growing back home into itself, back into its original nature. The warmth of the earthly womb breathes safety and proximity. The gesture of her body creates the impression of wanting to disappear into herself, as if she were looking for something that is closer than intimacy.
89x116cm
Oil on linen
Ceres
April 2018
A hymn to fertility and nature.
Borrowed from ancient Roman mythology, Ellen Marie sculpted her own vision of a modern day Ceres, icon of fertility, cultivation and motherly love. Reflecting the artist’s blossoming stage of life, the figure radiates playful sensuality, flourishing nature and expansive creativity.
Aether
September 2018
As the primordial deity of the Light, Aether is the counterpart of Nox in the series Meta. The word “aether” in ancient Greek means ‘pure air’ or ‘clear sky’ and is associated with the purest essence that the gods breathe.
Aether had a monumental place in Ellen’s own studio in Barcelona. Believing her to be a guardian angel, she associated the entity represented in this painting as an equivalent of Beatrice who guides Dante to Paradise in La Divina Comedia.
70x150cm
Oil and gold leaf on linen
Nox
September 2018
Nox is the primordial goddess of the night, and counterpart of Aether in the series Meta. She is born directly out of Primal Chaos, which is said to be the void preceding the creation of the universe. Nox is seen as a character of exceptional power and beauty. Her penetrating stare at the viewer is both enticing and repelling. With her cloak mysteriously fading away towards the edges, she seems to emerge from the dark mists of the night.
75 x 150cm
Oil on linen
Salome
April 2018
This painting is based on the Biblical story of Salome and the Dance of the Seven Veils, which she performed in front of King Herod. It captures the moment where Salome takes off the first veil. It can also be interpreted as an allegory of the removal of the veils of ignorance, where Salome is standing at the forefront of spiritual revelation. The dance requests her to one by one discard layers of ignorance that impede her from seeing the Truth, leaving behind all garments, beliefs and earthly desires.
65x81cm
Oil on linen
Lilith
Jaunuary 2019
In Jewish folklore, Lilith was the first wife of Adam. She left him after she refused to become subservient to him. Often envisioned as a dangerous and malicious character, Ellen Marie connected to the liberated side of Lilith as the “first woman”. In this scene Lilith is seen to take on the snake of mind that represents the dualistic expression of good and evil. Equipped with a knife and other attributes, breasts revealed, she comes across as a powerful warrior woman, looking the enemy straight in the eyes.
97 x 130cm
Oil on linen
Zeus & Ganymedes
February 2019
Also known as The Abduction of Ganymedes. In Greek mythology, Ganymedes was known to be the most beautiful of mortals, something which also the gods took note of. Zeus decided to transform himself into an eagle and abduct him to Mount Olympus to serve as a wine-pourer to the gods.
After seeing a painting at the Louvre inspired upon the same myth, Ellen Marie was fascinated by the idea of intertwining a human figure with an animal.
114 x 146cm
Oil on linen
Selene
July 2018
An allegory of the Moon, counterpart of Helios in the series Meta. Selene’s draped body seems to emerge from nightly fog. Opposed to the neat shapes in Helios, Selene’s atmosphere appears to be a lot more chaotic and scattered, playing with the fluidity and creativity of female energy. Whereas Helios encompasses the grounded aspect, pointing down to the Earth, Selene directs her attention up towards the Moon, towards the spiritual realm of existence. Both do so with absolute conviction and power, knowing that they are each one side of the same coin.
97x196cm
Oil and gold leaf on linen
Helios
February 2019
An allegory of the Sun, counterpart of Selene in the series Meta. The figure’s body gesture shows the transmission of power from his left hand that rests on the sun, down to his right hand, thereby sending light, warmth and power down to the World. By use of straight lines and solid geometrical forms, the qualities of male energy are incorporated as opposed to the more chaotic constellation of Selene.
97x196cm
Oil and gold leaf on linen
MORPHOSIS
Nebula
November 2017
In Nebula, Ellen Marie searched vigorously for a way to represent dance in painting. The total duration of the painting was 6 months, throughout which it underwent various radical transformations, up until the point where the painting itself decided it was finished. Due to the many deeper lying layers, the figures seem to emerge from a spatial stellar cloud, which connects the movement of their bodies.
210x115cm
Mixed media on canvas
Echo I & II
September 2018
The figures in these paintings seem to be floating in a void, as if lost in their own imaginary world, unaware of the true reason for and cause of their existence. The dreamy and melancholic atmosphere hints at a total surrender to the nothingness. The watery females or nymphs behave as if they were alone and unwatched, intertwined in an intimate embrace. Echo refers to the distant voice of home calling, an echo of the spiritual loss, the fall from grace. In such, metaphorically these paintings tell the story of all of mankind, lost in the whirlpool of suffering.
100 x 100cm
Mixed media on canvas
Metamorphosis I
August 2018
In contact improvisation dance, Ellen Marie most strongly experiences losing the boundaries of her own body, totally surrendering and becoming one with the movement of the other person. Ever since discovering the possibility of this most transcendental feeling, she has been searching vigorously to depict it in visual imagery.
70 x 100cm
White chalk on paper
Flood
October 2018
120x120cm
Oil on linen
Alchemy
October 2018
Initially being called ‘The Dark Magician’, this painting contained the image of a gloomy male figure with piercing eyes, showing the viewer the palms of his hands. Throughout the painting process, Ellen realised that she was manifesting something very dark and evil, and felt like she was no longer in control of the painting. In horror, she turned the painting to face the wall for 2 years.
Still visible through the thin veils of white, the conclusive image of Alchemy embodies the transcendence and transformation of a low-vibrating entity into a more refined and balanced representation of duality. It is the first abstract painting that Ellen Marie has made to date.
97x130cm
Oil on linen
The Battle
June 2018
Always having painted with the same light and colour arrangement in the academy, Ellen Marie sought to push her boundaries in terms of painting human skin colours. The tension that already exists between the figures due to the dynamic of their poses becomes even more unbearable by use of colour complementaries. The result is an emotionally charged dynamic unity portraying the struggle between individuals.
130 x 97cm
Oil on linen