Today we’d like to introduce you to Ellen Schiffman.
Ellen, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I have been an admirer of art and a maker for my entire life, a collector of art my entire adult life, and a professional artist for close to 25 years. For 10 years prior to devoting myself to my own work full time, I ran a business placing artwork with architects and designers in both residential and commercial settings. This experience provided invaluable knowledge about the business end of art-making, which has served me well as a practicing artist.
I have no formal art training and am largely self-taught. Over the years I have attended workshops led by some of the finest contemporary artists and crafts people working in the field, which has helped guide my artistic journey. In recent years the internet has kicked in as a wonderful catalyst in exposing me both to techniques and inspiration which have informed my work.
Over the years I have worked with many materials and techniques. I started with wood, which caught my fancy in a high school tech class, and spent several years exploring this wondrous material. Since then fiber has had an important role in my work, as have fiber art techniques. I am drawn to the historical and multi-cultural richness of fiber making traditions and appreciate the tactile and textural possibilities inherent in the material. Beyond fiber, I look to everyday, often humble, items in creating my work. Think Q-tips, makeup pads, ace bandages, rusted items and items from nature. I use both traditional techniques and my own experimental techniques to transform common materials. In doing so, I am making a statement about our potential to see, to transform, and to manifest beauty in the world we live in. It is not a perfect beauty, but one which celebrates the “perfection of imperfection”. I believe that in connecting with and embracing the truths of the natural world we are best able to act as its co- creators and stewards.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
An appreciation for the natural world – its beauty, its power, its mystery and its unpredictability – informs what I do, always. Though nature is my muse I do not attempt to replicate it. Rather, I try to capture its essence along with the sense of wonder it evokes. I use the images, sensations, colors, textures, movement and moods of the natural world as a springboard and inspiration for my creations.
Although there is balance in my work there is no symmetry. My forms are organic – often without clear boundaries. Serendipity and surprise play significant roles in all my creations. I offer direction to whatever material I am using but respect the way the material and process conspire to manifest in their own unique way. A hole, a ridge, a swerving line, a crack appears where none was planned, adding interest and depth to the work just as they do in life. I have no firm outcome in mind when I start a piece – rather I embark on an intuitive, process-oriented journey. For me the work becomes a metaphor for the unexpected occurrences in life, and both the challenges we face and the growth we experience from embracing that which life brings.
Although I have traditionally used rich, saturated colors in my work, in recent years I have been drawn to working entirely in shades of white. This shift comes as I move into more dimensional/sculptural pieces than I have made in the past. The absence of color allows both me and the viewer to focus on textures, dimension, movement and form in different ways than before. A quiet meditative quality has entered the recent work, a response perhaps to the growing complexity of our world. At present I am primarily making sculptural wall work and free-standing sculpture.
How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
Success can be hard to define and slippery to hold on to. Like many artists I make because I have to. As such, just spending time in the studio every day and putting hand to material, is both an accomplishment and essential to my well-being. Working through procrastination, self-judgement, and creative blocks are challenges that all artists must face regularly. I believe that to have success as an artist we must first and foremost answer that internal need to create, listening and responding to the inner voice. We must learn to push through whatever discomforts and distractions block our way….and keep creating.
Furthermore, I believe a successful artist must manifest an openness to exploration, experimentation, and change. In embracing these, artists will inevitably be challenged. New materials and techniques invariably throw down unexpected roadblocks, while there are always those who don’t care for our new work, bringing unpleasant feelings of rejection. We must tolerate and even embrace these painful experiences to find our authentic artistic voice. It is important to welcome rejection, mistakes and even failures as essential to the process of growth. “Use your mistakes” or even “There are no mistakes” are frequent dictums that I turn to when success seem to be eluding me.
Finally, for me success as an artist requires that my art is seen by people and that it says something to some of them. As such it is important to me to exhibit and publish my work. I aim to provide a vehicle which allows others to experience thoughts and feelings that they might not otherwise experience. It is important to me to that my artwork be a tool of communication and that I am able to open a dialog with others through my work.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I will be having a 2 person show at the Pelham Curtis Gallery in New Canaan CT from August 9th through Sept 24. I have been coordinating a show at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton Ma. called Context: Language, Media and Meaning from the Surface Design Association from Oct 27 – Feb 24. I hope to have work juried in to the show.
There will be a special full day event for fiber artists on opening day, Oct 27. My work has recently been included in the book Dimensional Cloth by Andra Stanton published by Schiffer press. I have a website, a presence on Facebook and an Instagram feed. I welcome people to visit me on-line, or in my home studio in Weston CT.
Contact Info:
- Address: www.ellenschiffmanfiber.com
https://www.facebook.com/EllenSchiffmanFiber/
https://www.instagram.com/ellenschiffmanfiber/ - Website: www.ellenschiffmanfiber.com
- Phone: 203 222-9264
- Email: ellenschiffman@optonline.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellenschiffmanfiber/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EllenSchiffmanFiber/
Image Credit:
Tyler Philpott
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