Hatching big art plans
Emerging young artist Ellen Norrish is only 23, but has already had a collection of her work exhibited at Perth Institute of Contemporary Art.
The Curtin University graduate was selected to display her work in the prestigious Hatched: National Graduate Show 2017.
She was one of three Curtin students to be invited to exhibit at Hatched 2017, showcasing some of the best new works by 35 of Australia’s most promising artists.
Norrish’s work consists of 71 oil paintings, all in A5 size.
She described her entry as a selection of images made from her smartphone
“The project was a way of investigating excessive image accumulation, and the new role of snapshot photography in everyday life,” she said.
“Where one painting subject might be kitsch, exhibited en masse the paintings present a larger narrative of life’s accumulated snapshots.
“The diverse range of painting genres found in the series from landscapes, portraits to even abstracts reveal the disparate nature of collected images in our lives.”
Norrish’s work was also commended by judges in the prestigious 2017 Schenberg Art Fellowship as part of the exhibition.
Although the overall prize was taken out by University of Sydney graduate Kai Wasikowski, the judges said they were “impressed with the robust conceptual framework that generated this impressive series of small paintings, and with Ellen’s technical dexterity in realising her project”.
More recently, Norrish has taken up a position at Geraldton Regional Art Gallery, where she works front-of-house as administrator for the City of Geraldton’s art collection, and installing and de-installing each exhibition.
Having worked previously for Perth Institute of Contemporary Art and the Art Gallery of WA, Norrish said she was thriving in the smaller, focused team in Geraldton.
She said her new role was presenting her with more flexible responsibilities.
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