Biography

Ellen Scobie was born and raised on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art History from the University of Manitoba and furthered her education at the London College of Communication and the Barcelona Academy of Art. In her practice, she explores the relationship between the human body and the social and technological forces that act upon our lives. Her tactile, clay sculptures and intricate digital paintings consider the entwining of the organic and the artificial in contemporary life. Scobie’s work has been included in over thirty group exhibitions in Canada and internationally, including presentations in the United States, Switzerland, Spain and Malaysia. Scobie currently lives and works in Metro Vancouver, Canada, on the unceded traditional lands of the Katzie, Kwantlen, Matsqui and Semiahmoo First Nations.

Artist Process

To create my sculptures, I mostly work with clay—an ancient, tactile material through which I shape figures that embody vulnerability and strength. Working with clay requires a constant attention to the influences of temperature, drying times, and moisture, noting the cracks and distortions that may occur through-out the process. I value this art form for its connection to an activity that makers have engaged in for millennia, using their hands and their senses to shape their vision.

Alongside my sculptural practice, I create digital, multi-layered compositions from pixels extracted from my own photographs. Wherever I go, I collect images with my camera. My process involves the capture, fragmentation, manipulation, and reconstruction of content.  I view this as a process of renewal as I take these artifacts of the past and facilitate their rebirth into something new. These digital paintings point to an inventive re-imagining of the material world. In contrast to the tactile act of hand-building with clay, my digital works are fueled by a tsunami of unpredictable pixels.

Recently, I have photographed my sculptures and incorporated them into these digital environments, to highlight the complexities of living in a world increasingly dominated by digital and consumer culture. The interplay of organic and artificial forms speak to the ways in which our collective identities are being shaped by both the physical world we inhabit and the digital infrastructures that dominate our lives. Through this work, I consider our existence in an era where the boundaries between the tangible and the virtual grow ever more porous.

Interview

Listen to more about Ellen’s work on the Beyond the Palette Podcast