Matilda Ellis

A group show with alumni of the Royal Drawing School class of 2018 in collaboration with Space Honey.

Speaking Sappho is a poetry event that I organised and curated at the Barbican Centre. Produced in collaboration with the Barbican Young Visual Arts Group as a part of their Exhibition ‘Concrete Salon’.

Performers, poets and artists read fragments of Sappho poetry and then read some of their own work as a part of my ongoing exploration of the work of Sappho and how words can travel through time to still have an impact.

A t-shirt designed for International Women’s Day in collaboration with 50 years of choice and Sister Supporter, an amazing charity that creates buffer zones, 100 meter distances between abortion clinics and protesters that protect all peoples right to choice, free from harassment.

The shirt was available on everpress for 24 days.

You cooled my mind (2018)

An Open studios installation in Space Studios Hackney for the culmination of The Drawing Year at the Royal Drawing School.

The work was a mix of etching and monoprint, pastel drawing and animation.

See more info on the show at @rdsdrawingyear18

An ongoing print exploration into the poetry of Sappho.

Etching and monoprint

In July, 2018 I spent 10 days at Borgo Pignano in pignano, Italy. The trip focused on Oil painting on Board

Editorial Illustration for Its Freezing In LA! A new independent magazine with a fresh perspective on climate change.

I responded to Grace Richardson-Banks article about the connection between climate change and witchcraft.

Illustration based on ‘The Eel’ (1997) directed by Shohei Imamura.

Featured in ASBO magazine www.asbomagazine.com

A series of GIF’s created in response to fragments of Sappho poetry.

Drawings created based on and as tangents of objects in the British Museum.

Fashion Illustrations based on book passages.

Grey Man is a publication by Barney Fagan, Emma Teasdale and Evie Goodwin that explores the affects of the working world on men’s mental health.

I produced a cover and spot illustrations for an interview with a female pattern cutter that works on Saville Row.

What its like to have your parents deported- Editorial illustration commissioned by the New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/27/opinion/what-its-like-to-have-your-parents-deported.html

Digital iphone illustrations based on ceramics in The Wallace Collection in London.

A selection of gouache paintings done on location in Italy and the US.

Publication taking the words of my grandfather John Emery and exploring the nature of mountaineering, its connection to research and ability to connect people through time. 

Using drawing, monoprint, photography, collage, risograph, screen-printing and audio to create a body of work in response to one text can then be curated and edited to form a narrative. 

Exploring the notion of archives as institutions of memory and how drawing can create emotional connection with bodies of research.

Illustration in response to Jeanette Wintersons novel ‘Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit’.

Could also function as Joan of Arc fanart.

Collaboration with Charlotte Ager 

Exploring language and how we record people's lived experience. Drawing from a conversation about Male depression in the workplace recorded as part of The Listening Project. 

Resulting in a screen printed publication that reflected the subjectivity of the spoken word taking key moments from our drawing. This publication was left of train's to be experienced by people during their daily commute. 

Collaboration with Charlotte Ager. 

Documenting the Grimaldi clown service in Haggerston in which clowns gather to honour Joseph Grimaldi, the father of modern clowning. 

We tried to capture character, atmosphere and articulate the importance of silliness and documenting a tradition that may not last forever.

Off-track’ is an animation made with Charlotte Ager, Kitty Glavin, Holly O’Neil and Joey Yu. Set to words from ‘Middlesex’ by Jeffrey Eugenides the film explores the complexity of language and how we express ourselves.

The film was made in six weeks using stop -motion techniques in a set built entiely from paper and cardboard. 

https://vimeo.com/191649130

Exploring the connotations of female makers using craft processes in a Fine Art context. I combined film stills from a performance with drawing and text to show the power that craft has to create a conversation.

The publication was displayed on a plinth alongside the basket created during the performance 

https://vimeo.com/236720955

What Death Cannot touch is a film made with Charlotte Ager, Kitty Glavin, Lottie Fox-Jones, Holly O’Neil and Joey Yu. Set to words from ‘The Goldfinch’ by Donna Tartt the film explores the importance of art; both for its fragility and for its ability to connect people across space and time.

The film was made in seven weeks and is made using stop motion and hand-drawn frame by frame animation.