BORN: Adelaide, Australia
CHILDHOOD: Guildford, England
ADULTHOOD: Brisbane, Australia
CURRENTLY: London, England since 2019
EDUCATION
1996 Graduated University of Queensland, Honors Degree, Psychology
2018 Australian Institute of Business, Graduate Diploma, Business
2023/4 Royal College of Art, Masters Painting
EXHIBITIONS
2021 'Touch Me', solo show at Espacio Gallery, London
2021 'First Impressions', Directors choice at Saatchi Art Other Art Fair
2022 'Spread Too Thin', solo show at Noho Studio, London
2023 'Unveiled', Cellophane Wrapper group show by Plastic Pie Collective, Basingstoke
RECOGNITION
2020 Selected by Beverly Knight for ING Discerning Eye Competition
2021 Committee recognition, Luxembourg Art Prize
2022 Committee recognition, Luxembourg Art Prize
2023 Director of Visual Arts, Weybridge Festival
2023 Shortlisted, W4th Plinth, London
TALKS & INTERVIEWS
2023 Talk - Undertanding Art History, Weybridge Festival
2023 Talk - Developing the 'Veils' Paintings, 'Cellophane Wrapper ' Exhibition
2023 Radio Interview, Brooklands Radio
2023 In-person interview at Sam Beare Bookshop with Barry Richards
2023 Podcast interview, 'Morning Routine with Dr Lunide'
2022 Podcast interview, 'Feminine Roadmap'
2022 Podcast interview, 'Beyond the Paint' with Bernadine Franco
2021 Talk - How to Choose Art, Interior Designers Program
To know more, listen as Valerie has been interviewed by various podcasts (below) and can be contacted below...
I make oil paintings and works in paper. Because I love classicism, I love oil paint; it’s flexibility, richness, patience and beauty. My oil paintings are the culmination of a process where I see something I like and/or cognate on something that’s important to me, draw it several times and then make a painting. I’m developing a style that’s neo-impressionist, abstract figurative. The works in paper are a minimalist break from painting and grow out of the drawing experience because paper has a natural tactile quality I like and it works beautifully as a simple, contemporary metaphor for the human mind and experience. I’ve used paper in a couple series of artworks that really embody psychology.
My previous career as a psychotherapist has become entwined with my artistry. I have the natural talent many artists have and the ability to draw and paint anything but, I want to make art that carries some significance which means I like conceptual art, symbolic art and emotive painterly art. Archetypal experiences, human suffering, modern socio-political problems all motivate my practice.
I want viewers to find the artworks beautiful, interesting and creative. I want them to understand the idea embedded in the artwork so they enjoy a deeper insight and connections to me and each other.
The Museum of Women in the Arts in the US was established to help women gain a voice in the art world. They recommend 5 podcasts. Valerie was interviewed for one of them, Beyond the Paint.
Very Valerie Ellis (Valerie Ellis) is a visual artist of British and Australian nationality specialising in abstract expressionist oil paintings and works on paper. Ellis' style has evolved from more strict representational still life and portraiture towards abstract art and conceptual art reflecting her former career as a psychotherapist.
Early Life
Ellis was born in November 1969 in Adelaide, Australia to parents previously married in and emigrated from the UK. When she was 6, Ellis' parents divorced and her mother took her back to England to live with grandparents. Both grandparents and mother were harsh critics and quick to denigrate leaving Ellis with emotional stress.
Ellis graduated from Park Barn Secondary School in 1984 with the highest mark for an art examination in the country. Despite gaining entry to Epsom College of Art to study fashion, Ellis emigrated back to Australia to live with her father. This relationship failed quickly leaving Ellis living with strangers and flatmates for years until entry to The University of Queensland to study psychology. Ellis graduated from University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts and again in 1996 with an honors degree in psychology. Her thesis was on the topic of attribution theory. In the year following graduation, Ellis married the US/Australian citizen, Charles Barber.
Career
After graduation from The University of Queensland, Ellis worked for Queensland Corrective Services Commission as a community corrections officer - case-managing probationers and parolees. Thereafter, she started a private practice in the western suburbs of Brisbane serving mostly women going through divorce and re-partnering.
In 2000, Ellis and her husband divorced and she moved to Maleny in the Sunshine Coast area for three years and then back to Brisbane's eastern suburb, Bulimba. At that time, Ellis returned to her artistic origins, started an interior design business, then a scarf design business and also developed her ability to paint still life subjects in oil paint. In 2019 she completed a graduate diploma in business. She also published a book of relationship advice, "Compatibility: 8 Pillars of Lasting Love"[1] in 2019.
Back to England
In 2019, Valerie Ellis moved back to the UK, 30 years after leaving as a teenager. She moved to the Surrey town of Leatherhead and then Weybridge, establishing a studio dedicated to developing an art practice. In 2020, the painting "Beauty and Determination" was selected into the ING Discerning Eye exhibition for that year by celebrity art-collector Beverley Knight. This success reflected a focus on painting portraiture after which Ellis developed an interest in post impressionist and abstract art from the 1930's - 1970's.
In 2021, the "Touch Me" collection of abstract expressionist oil paintings (painted in 2020) went on display at Espacio Gallery in Shoreditch, London. The show was attended by the London Art Critic, Tabish Khan, the author of the Salterton Arts Review, Erin Caswell of Christies Auction House and a director of a prominent London gallery who acquired one of her charcoal drawings. In 2021, the "First Impressions" series of works on paper debuted at The Other Art Fair presented by Saatchi Art in The Truman Brewery on Brick Lane. This series of framed pastels and charcoals were symbolic representations of people wounded by their childhood - pieces of paper crumpled and then smoothed with charcoal-covered hands to represent the way childhood treatment effects people for the rest of their lives - "a topography of hurt". The First Impressions series was the first really explicit combination of Valerie Ellis' career in art and career in psychology.
Influences & Style
Ellis identifies her influences as the New York school of abstract expressionism, the post-impressionist Chaim Soutine, Franz Kline, and Frank Auerbach for their painterly style. Also, for the extent of their personal ambition and social impact, Paula Rego, Helen Frankenthaler and Cecily Brown.
References ^ Ellis, Valerie (2019). "Compatibility: 8 Pillars of Lasting Love". VERY VALERIE ELLIS
A look at the latest series by Valerie Ellis, artist and former psychotherapist. Spread Too Thin once again captures the Zeitgeist of our current moment.
Today’s post is a rare commercial gallery outing for the Salterton Arts Review. Even rarer, this is an artist whose work we have seen before. Valerie Ellis is a British-Australian artist whose journey to art took a somewhat circuitous path. Her twenty years working as a psychotherapist have helped to shape an artistic practice at the intersection of art and psychology. In Touch Me, the series the Salterton Arts Review visited in 2021 at London’s Espacio Gallery, Ellis examined brushwork as the traces of a physical presence, at a time when we were all starved for touch and human connection.
Ellis’s next series, which I discussed with the artist but have not had the privilege of seeing up close, took this art/psychology connection a step further. First Impressions is a metaphor for the traces childhood leaves on the psyche. Paper is crumpled and smoothed, the resulting lines and wrinkles highlighted, for instance with a soft layer of pastel. The result is topographical: at the same time visually compelling and a powerful way of making manifest that the past, for good or bad, cannot be undone.
And now Spread Too Thin once again captures the Zeitgeist by exploring the boundary between art and psychology. Ellis explains:
“When spread too thin, people become fragile, frayed at the edges, buckling under pressure and vulnerable. This series is a minimalist, symbolic reflection of the experience we all encounter when we take on too much, try too hard to impress others by pushing ourselves beyond healthy limits and overextending ourselves.”
An intriguing offering, which I was keen to see for myself.
The concept here is simple. Ellis has taken paper pulp, often white but sometimes with colour, and pushed it to its limits. Literally spread it too thin. The result is a variety of different textures. The titles of the works often give a hint as to the process and sometimes the intention. We see for instance Swept, Poked, Blobbed which physically embody these actions. Shattered, Inundated or Stretched do double duty as actions and mental states. Shattered was a particular favourite of mine, delicate fragments of cellulose mounted and framed, incredibly tactile.
Aside from the concept, for me it is the tactile nature of these artworks which makes them so interesting. This series essentially captures a physical action and preserves it as a moment in time. I found myself getting up close. Looking at where the paper lifts proud of the mount, where it is thicker or thinner. It seems a shame almost to have the glass between us, and I agreed with something Valerie said to me in conversation: that some samples of the paper would have been a nice addition to allow visitors to experience the physicality of them. I don’t think samples would have lasted long, however. What is already spread too thin will quickly break down under the slightest pressure.
And this brings me to my reflection after visiting the exhibition. As with Ellis’s previous series, this is art which surfaces an issue by making it physical, but it remains up to the viewer to decide what to do with that information. In Spread Too Thin, the clue is in the title. Spread too thin. We know what it feels like to spread ourselves too thin. It’s uncomfortable. It’s unsustainable. What I’m still unsure of is what we do about it. But giving the answers tied up neatly with a bow is not the role of art, after all. The viewer, like the burned-out individual, is an active agent and needs to take a role in the process.
I’m afraid today’s post is something of a teaser, as I visited on the last day of the exhibition and so haven’t given you the opportunity to see it for yourself. You can see the series here online, with better images than I was able to capture in Noho Studios’ underground space.
Once more I look forward to seeing what is next from Valerie Ellis. These conceptual series lend themselves to a distinct series of production before moving on to the next idea (I mean maybe not: how many Concetto Spaziale did Fontana produce, for instance?). I expect that Ellis’s next exhibition will be different again, but look forward to her continuing to capture and distill our unpredictable times through art.
“Upon entering the gallery space, I was immediately drawn to the relatability of the show's poster. Spread Too Thin is an expression so many of us can relate to when considering how messy and stressful our experiences of the world can be.
Once I learnt that the materiality of paper was a representation of skin, the exhibition's logic became apparent; the handling of the paper represents what our minds can feel like. This was represented through material. It was a representation of how much we try to cover and compensate for over time. The way in which the paper had been malfunctioned, manipulated and disrupted reflected the way in which our skin and bodies become damaged by the pressures of life. The works were abstract drawings with paper, characterised by broken and disrupted marks. This once again references the how the world leaves us feeling – broken, and our thoughts are often distracted, disrupted and disturbed. The exhibition reminded me of an amazing book I read titled How to Get your Life Back by John Eldredge.
Saturated distinctly signified our bodily response to stress and concern. The way in which the paper had been manipulated to its thinnest point reflected what we call our “breaking point”. The work represented the aesthetics of our sayings "I am shattered" or "broken". The work was a physical representation of how we can sometimes feel. Something tangible that articulates how we feel inside, which is difficult. The paper’s textures, tones and shapes appeared bodily and reflected human like characteristics.
I also thoroughly enjoyed Valerie's constant and rigorous questioning of the work's interaction with viewers and its presence in the space."
Showcasing the "Spread Too Thin" series
Recognition for the "First Impressions" series in 2021
Showcasing the "Touch Me" series
Fair Director's Featured Artist
Showcasing the "First Impressions" collection.
Recognition for the "First Impressions" series in 2021
Selected by Beverly Knight - an early portrait 'Beauty & Determination'.
Explaining the 'Spread Too Thin' series
The Feminine Roadmap | October 2022
Ellis is increasingly on the London artistic radar, with visits to her exhibition from several tastemakers... Speaking to Valerie about her work was a wonderful privilege...She describes the paintings as a way to push beyond figurative representation; instead communicating her own physical presence as a person who chose colours, laid down
Ellis is increasingly on the London artistic radar, with visits to her exhibition from several tastemakers... Speaking to Valerie about her work was a wonderful privilege...She describes the paintings as a way to push beyond figurative representation; instead communicating her own physical presence as a person who chose colours, laid down brushstrokes. Ellis’s work shows technical talent as well as an insightful purpose behind her recent abstract canvases. I look forward to seeing what comes next...
A refreshing take on the theme of touch and connection from an Australian artist in London. Valerie Ellis is one to watch.
Erin Caswell, the Salterton Arts Review.
Psychologists believe this bias to favour tall leaders may stem from an evolved preference for physically imposing chiefs who could dominate enemies.
Psychotherapist and artist, Valerie Ellis, says: “Men of power are often depicted on a pedestal or a horse and having those around you ‘looking-up’ to you is a strategic psychological move. T
Psychologists believe this bias to favour tall leaders may stem from an evolved preference for physically imposing chiefs who could dominate enemies.
Psychotherapist and artist, Valerie Ellis, says: “Men of power are often depicted on a pedestal or a horse and having those around you ‘looking-up’ to you is a strategic psychological move. The usual evolutionary explanation for the appeal of height is that it provides a survival advantage to the individual and the species; the ability to kill more game, out-run predators and attract prospective mates means height is naturally selected for genetically.”
While it appears the odds are stacked against shorties, it is not all doom and gloom.
Nick Harding
Former psychotherapist Valerie Ellis says this video-first format is likely to have a huge impact on our brains – and not in a good way.
‘For consumers, video content is also more demanding to process mentally – more than double, perhaps as much as 10x more cognitively demanding, than a static image,’ she says.
‘The brain has a capacity tha
Former psychotherapist Valerie Ellis says this video-first format is likely to have a huge impact on our brains – and not in a good way.
‘For consumers, video content is also more demanding to process mentally – more than double, perhaps as much as 10x more cognitively demanding, than a static image,’ she says.
‘The brain has a capacity that can be exhausted and, once exhausted, needs to be replenished.
‘But, because social media is 24/7 and designed to be addictive, the brain is not rested and becomes more and more overwhelmed with demand.’
Online News Network, Metro50
As Valerie Ellis, a former therapist turned artist whose work explores interpersonal and feminist issues, explains: “It’s a combination of genetic/evolutionary factors and cultural stereotypes... Culturally, men are held to less rigorous ‘beauty’ standards...this has translated into the extreme youth culture women are subjected to and int
As Valerie Ellis, a former therapist turned artist whose work explores interpersonal and feminist issues, explains: “It’s a combination of genetic/evolutionary factors and cultural stereotypes... Culturally, men are held to less rigorous ‘beauty’ standards...this has translated into the extreme youth culture women are subjected to and into pornography that takes physical ideals to bizarre extremes of Barbie-doll figures. Happily, as culture advances, these simplistic and harmful stereotypes are challenged and replaced with more nuanced indicators of individual value. Social media has made a positive contribution by exposing the variety in human form and inclusion into social standards.”
"Former psychotherapist Valerie Ellis and Maria Bailey, founder of Grief Specialists, both point out that it might feel strange to mourn someone you’ve never met. The sense of familiarity with the Queen and the loss associated with her death may feel silly to some people, even as they’re grieving, which makes it harder to talk about.
“Try
"Former psychotherapist Valerie Ellis and Maria Bailey, founder of Grief Specialists, both point out that it might feel strange to mourn someone you’ve never met. The sense of familiarity with the Queen and the loss associated with her death may feel silly to some people, even as they’re grieving, which makes it harder to talk about.
“Try to stay with the feelings you have until you can describe them clearly to yourself, if not to anyone else. There is likely to be a mixture of feelings and thoughts and it’s fine to have lots of different perspectives on the same moment,” Ellis tells us.
"People have natural talents. As a therapist of 20 years this fact becomes very obvious when you listen to the stories of enough people. It’s also true that those who fulfil their talent are happier and more successful than those who do not. Mine is art. I was the child at school who was asked by other children for a drawing. At home, I spent most of my time making something-or-another; little sculptures from dough or candle wax, paintings, drawings and arrangements of found-objects.
At the end of secondary school I had an art exam - a challenging life drawing. I clearly recall a fellow student lounging on a chaise (fully clothed - we were only 16!) and the drawing I made of her from an angle requiring skilful foreshortening. At the end, my teacher asked for my portfolio..."What portfolio..?”, I said. The one I was supposed to have been making all year, apparently. Kindly, she allowed me to spend the rest of the day painting, drawing and writing to make a year’s worth of submission. Not only did I pass, I was awarded the highest mark in the country that year. It was obvious I should pursue art but…I didn’t.
Both my parents were from dysfunctional homes. I’m sure they married young to escape but, of course, made their own version of familial mess. My family never missed a chance to criticise, ridicule and crush aspiration. From infancy, my experience of my mother ranged from neglect through to physical abuse. My father constantly ‘corrected’ and, for his daughter in particular, emphasised appearances rather than character, saying “it’s harder for people not to love you if you’re good looking”.
As a small child I'd become attached to my home - a more secure, reliable thing than my parents. So, it was very destabilising and painful when my mother abruptly took me from it to return to her own home city. There I met my grandparents who added to the retinue of hostile adults relentlessly using threats and put-downs to extinguish all happiness and spontaneity. By the time I entered school I felt profoundly alone, certainly lacking the confidence and skills required to thrive. English schools operated on a control-based culture and frightening experiences awaited me. Ridicule from teachers and fellow students was common (though the kindly ones stand out in my mind), I witnessed students abusing each other in ways I cannot describe...and teachers too. I recall a chair being thrown by a child at one poor teacher. By the time I left school I'd survived an assault that left me with a black eye and coped with the daily threat of harm well enough not to fail all my exams. At this point I was bereft - no one seemed to protect or care for me, especially the people who might be expected to.
Because the emphasis was always on the wrongness of one's actions rather than communicating values or emotions, my inner life was a closed world to me and my communication skills were severely stunted. I recall deciding, one day, to go to London. After making my way to the local train station and into London, I wandered for a few hours before managing to return home. I was 14 years old and told no-one what I was doing because no one was listening. Although I gained entry to an art college, with the help of my art teacher, my drive to fulfil any artistic potential was completely drowned by the desperate need to feel loved.
This was the first time I played the hand dealt me to my advantage; I had both Australian and UK citizenship and decided to exercise the option to go to Australia, thinking that life with my Father (still there) might provide a chance for the happiness I needed. So, I left for Australia...
Quickly I discovered that my ever-critical and invasive father was unbearable to live with. I ran away with nowhere to go - arriving at a local town with a suitcase. Eventually, I found a youth shelter where I stayed for a couple of nights before one of the staff took me home. Despite having a wife and child in the house. he was inappropriately ‘touchy' so, I left there too.
Eventually, I found work and flatmates and a boyfriend. He thoughtfully gave me a book about personal growth and psychology. No one had explained to me that life had patterns, reasons, causes and effects. Life seemed like an endless sea buffeting me with assault after assault and the best you could do was hold on. Psychology was a revelation! It explained why I was unhappy and provided hope for escape. I immediately decided to become a therapist, like the author, who seemed to have found wisdom and relief from the buffeting.
Two years later I gained entry to the prestigious University of Queensland. Four years later, eating cereal for dinner on many nights, I graduated with an honours degree in psychology and a little more insight. Soon, I married, established work and a house. I enjoyed being a psychotherapist because I understood how much my clients had suffered and how much they needed help. They were loyal because they felt the commitment and care I had for them. Though I worked with them, I had not persisted in improving myself - I remained convinced I was alone and uncared-for - this childhood hangover poisoned my marriage triggering divorce and the loss of my home. This was the next big turning point. This massive loss exposed that, although I understood what harm my childhood had done, I had not recovered. I re-focussed on my own wellbeing.
For the next few years, I developed even more insight into myself and others, more discipline in correcting my inherited errors and higher expectations of myself and others.
Now I'd reached 'ground level'; instead of being in a massive psychological hole I could afford to shift from reparation to self-actualisation. What I could I have done if childhood had been good? Where would I be with great parents who understood and encouraged me? I was a good therapist but, a therapist because of being of starting out lost. If I'd started well, it’s not the career I would've had. I knew that attentive parents would have cultivated my artistic talent…they'd have shepherded me into a fine art degree, encouraged me to extend myself to be both dedicated and adventurous.
Trying for a new life in art would never be the same as starting decades earlier but,…it was better than continuing to live the consequences of being hurt and had the chance of the fulfilment that comes from being ‘on purpose’. Ultimately, what I have is perspective - a cultivated inner life and the ability to see meaning and motivation. I have grit - to persist and to expect continuous development in myself. And great compassion and motivation to do something meaningful as well as beautiful. All this comes with me in the new direction.
Art life started by teaching myself oil painting and developing the skills to make realistic portraits and figurative paintings. More recently I've explored abstraction, brushwork, scale and composition. Now I want to combine abstraction and figuration in art with symbolism and meaning in subject matter. Still trying to get home.
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