Ellen Von Wiegand
The Memory Settled Over Her, linocut, 12″ x 12″, 2019
I Was in a Trance, linocut, 16″ x 16″, 2019
Traces of Home, linocut, 8″ x 12″, 2019
Afterglow, linocut, 12″ x 8″, 2019
High Up in the Moonlight, linocut, 55″ x 35.5″, 2019
Salty Skin and Dusky Sky, linocut, 55.5″ x 35.5″, 2019
Of Wild Weeds, linocut, 55.5″ x 35.5″, 2019
Trust, linocut, 24″ x 16″, 2019
She Offered No Sign, linocut, 12″ x 12″, 2019
Note on Linocuts
For an explanation of linocut, see “What is a linocut?“. Also see “About Linocut Originals” on Ellen Von Wiegand’s Website.
Artist Statement
I am shy, an introvert, and I struggled for many years to put myself out there. Early on, I felt that my desire to make art and my insecurity were in complete conflict; however, my creeping urgency to create became hard to ignore. My images reverberate with a search for self-assurance and serenity, and my own nude body is featured in each piece.
I originally began using myself as a model because it gave me a lot of control over my compositions but, in doing so, my work developed into something highly personal. When we are nude, we are at our most vulnerable, and my art is a way to reconcile with the shy, insecure, and fearful pieces of myself. That said, I don’t see my work as self-portraiture; rather, I hope that viewers can recognize something of themselves in each image.
I’ve long been drawn to the nude in art, and my style is inspired by both traditional Japanese woodblock prints and ancient Greek and Roman black figure pottery. In recent pieces, I’ve placed my figures in abstracted natural environments. Nature is a place of nourishment, of raw being, and the effect of a lone figure within a landscape heightens the sense of solitude to which I’m so drawn.
About the Artist
California-born artist Ellen Von Wiegand has a background in art history. She completed her master’s degree in contemporary art at Christie’s Education in 2011; she earned her bachelor’s degree in art history from John Cabot University, Rome, Italy, in 2010.
Ellen Von Wiegand began to develop an interest in printmaking while studying the linocuts of Picasso and Der Blaue Reiter group during her time at Christie’s. Her prints take their inspiration primarily from traditional Japanese printmaking and Greek and Roman black figure pottery. Although she completed many short courses in drawing and painting throughout the period of her studies, Ellen Von Wiegand is largely self-taught in linocut.
In September 2019, Ellen Von Wiegand was named Limited Edition Print Artist for the fall edition of the Affordable Art Fair in New York, New York. Her work is represented by JoAnne Artman Gallery, Laguna Beach, California, and New York, New York; DECORAZON Gallery, London, England, New York, New York, and Dallas, Texas; and Gas Gallery, London. Ellen Von Wiegand most recently exhibited at JoAnne Artman Gallery in Laguna Beach.
Ellen Von Wiegand currently works from her home studio in South East London, England.
Ellen Von Wiegand on Instagram
Interview with Ellen Von Wiegand (August 2, 2019)
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