Ella is a Falmouth based artist, who investigates her own experience of the world through her work. Her semi-abstract paintings incorporate a love of colour and pattern, absorbing and interpreting her surroundings. She treads a line between representation and abstraction with the aim of sparking the viewer’s curiosity and igniting their imagination.
“When I was at School my nickname was Little Chef. This came about because I had entered a national cookery competition and aged 14. I remember getting to the finals and having to cook in front of the judging panel as well as my proud mum and Headmaster. It was a big deal at the time, travelling to a very grand Hotel in Cambridge which had been set up with little mini kitchens. I didn’t win but the nickname stuck, and it reflected a passion for food and cooking that has stayed with me my entire life. I put this down mostly to a love of eating and celebrating with food, very much inherited from both my parents.
I suppose it’s no wonder then, that colourful images of food crept into my paintings, two passions melting into one. This happened during the Covid pandemic when my focus became more inward and my attention was on what was around me at home: bowls of fruit, leftovers on my kitchen table and connections made inside the four walls of home. The very fact that we were all grounded for long periods of time, changed my focus and my experiences as a painter: I was interested in how our domestic environments became both our sanctuary and our place of confinement. My work in this show reflects these themes as well as demonstrating my love of colour and pattern.”
Ella Carty studied BA Fine Art: Painting at Cheltenham College of Art and is an alumna of Digswell Arts in Hertfordshire. She lives near Falmouth in Cornwall and has a studio at Krowji in Redruth.
