About the artist
Artist Statement
I use drawing and watercolour on paper for work about cycles of life force, fragility and survival in both the body and in nature. Solace in nature and the insufficiency of words are long-running threads in my work, and more so now after serious illness.
The work emerges from embodied experience, sense of place, sound and material experimentation. And from tension between observation/abstraction, articulated/unsaid and intuition/ideas.
Since 2018, I’ve worked in the same place in ancient woodland on Shotover Hill near Oxford, where I constantly learn that I’m part of the ecology I inhabit. Life cycles are palpable not only in the trees but also in Shotover’s Neolithic flint mines, Roman road and kilns, residual royal hunting forest, 17C ochre mines, wartime camps and more.
I’ve worked directly from sound in recent projects, making abstract notations from trees, weather, birdsong, shopping mall echoes, live conversations with gallery visitors, and improvised viola.
The resulting planes of paint, illegible calligraphy, clouds of marks and indentations in the paper are communicative but resist precise interpretation. They contain wordless perception patterned in the body, not language.
With a cross-disciplinary background in literature and psychotherapy, my work is informed by Greek mythologies, metamorphoses, what can and cannot be spoken, and ideas about embodied perception (how we interpret visual/auditory/tactile sensory information).
I love how art mirrors back parts of ourselves, invites contemplation and offers sustenance. But fundamentally I make art for its ancient capacity to navigate life’s deeper waters.
Bio
Born at the Lincolnshire coast, Ella first intended to follow in the footsteps of her great aunt Muriel, a fashion designer in Paris between the wars.
But now based in Oxford, UK, she received BA hons Textile Art (2008) and MA Fine Art (2010) from Winchester School of Art (University of Southampton).
Solo/duo shows include Ella Clocksin, ronapainting gallery (2022, Oxford); Sound of Trees, Rookley Manor Studio Gallery (2019, Rookley); Land Marks (duo), Old Fire Engine House (2020, Ely); and Green Fuse, Wall Gallery (2005, Ely).
Group exhibitions include REJECTS, Art Friend Gallery (2026, London); For Women By Women I-VI, ronapainting gallery (Oxford 2020-26); A Room of One’s Own, Irving Gallery (2024, Oxford); with Oxford Portable Collective and BBK Bonn (2024): Box, OVADA (Oxford) and Packaging, artroom BBK BONN (Bonn, Germany); Royal Watercolour Society Open (2017-19 & 2023, London); Curios, art_house-life (2022, Ventnor); and Symbiosis, Darle and the Bear (2021, Woodstock).
Artist residencies include The Museum of Loss and Renewal, Orkney (2026) and Twelve Artists At Home Residency with Jelly, (2020, Reading), an Arts Council England National Lottery Project. She’s undertaken self-directed residencies at Wilcote Arts (2024, Finstock), Jelly, Reading and The Old Lock Up Gallery, Cromford (both 2022).
Her work is held in British university, hospital and school collections, and private collections in the UK, USA, Canada, France and Australia.
Other professional work includes Visiting Lecturer in Life Drawing at Winchester School of Art (2010-11); Visual Arts Therapist at The School of Life, London (2013-17); writing critical introductions for exhibition catalogues; and running independent art workshop programmes for twenty-five years.
Curriculum Vitae
-
2010 MA Fine Art (Distinction), Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton
2008 BA (hons)Textile Art (1st), Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton
2005 EDEXCEL Foundation in Art and Design (Distinction), Oxford Brookes University
-
2027 (forthcoming) The North Wall Gallery, Oxford (solo)
2024 Self-curated studio exhibitions, Headington, Oxfordshire Artweeks (solo, also 2017-23)
2022 Ella Clocksin. ronapainting gallery, Oxford
2020 Land Marks, Old Fire Engine House Gallery, Ely (duo)
2019 The Sound of Trees, Rookley Manor Studio, Rookley, Isle of Wight (solo)
2006 Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford (solo)
2005 Green Fuse, The Wall Gallery, Ely (solo)
2005 The Old Fire Engine House Gallery, Ely (duo)
2004 Space Agency, Oxford (solo)
2003 Templeton College, University of Oxford (solo)
2005 Self-curated studio exhibitions. Headington, Oxfordshire Artweeks (solo, also 2003-04)
2003 The Cogwheel Trust, Cambridge (duo, also 2001-02)
-
2026 The Museum of Loss and Renewal Residency, Orkney (forthcoming)
2024 The Eaton Fund grant award
2024 Artist Residency, Wilcote Arts, Finstock, Oxfordshire
2022 Artist Residency, Jelly, Reading
2022 The Old Lock Up Gallery Artist Residency, Cromford
2020 Participant in Twelve Artists at Home Residency, Jelly, Reading, supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England
2008 Progression Scholarship Award: Postgraduate Study, Winchester School of Art
2007 Excellence Award: Outstanding Development, Winchester School of Art
-
2026
REJECTS, Art Friend Gallery at The Bakery, London
For Women By Women VI, ronapainting gallery, Oxford
Oxford Art Society Members’ Exhibition, Kendrew Barn Gallery, Oxford
2025
Oxford Art Society Members’ and Open Exhibitions, Kendrew Barn Gallery, Oxford
For Women By Women V, ronapainting gallery, Oxford
Fifth Anniversary Exhibition, ronapainting gallery, Oxford
The Old Town Hall Open, Trowbridge, selectors: Anita Taylor, Fiona Cassidy & Tom Maddicott
2024
Frickleton Fine Art, The Control Tower Gallery and Cripps LLP, Kings Hill
AT The Bus Secret Postcard Exhibition, The North Wall Gallery, Oxford
Open Exhibition, The Old Lock Up Gallery, Cromford
A Room Of One’s Own, Irving Gallery, Oxford
For Women By Women IV, ronapainting gallery, Oxford
Oxford Art Society Members’ and Open Exhibitions, Kendrew Barn Gallery, Oxford
SFSA Drawing Open, No Format Gallery, London
BOX, Portable Collective Oxford and BBK Bonn, OVADA, Oxford
PACKAGING, Portable Collective, artroom BBK Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Space & Process, The Drawing Room, Wilcote Arts, Oxfordshire
2023
Royal Watercolour Society Open, Bankside Gallery, London
For Women By Women III, ronapainting gallery, Oxford, guest selector Kathleen Soriano
Secret Postcard Show, The Old Lock Up Gallery, Cromford, also 2021-2022
Oxford Art Society Open Exhibition (online)
Oxfordshire OPEN, ronapainting gallery, Oxford
Beacon 42, The Old Lock Up Gallery, Cromford
Frickleton Fine Art, The Control Tower Gallery and Cripps LLP, Kings Hill
2022
For Women By Women II, ronapainting gallery, Oxford, guest selector Kathleen Soriano
CURIOS, art_house_life, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, curators Joanna Kori & albedo marz
Oxford Art Society Open Exhibition, Cloister Gallery, SJE Arts, Oxford
Winter, ronapainting gallery, Oxford
2021
Open Exhibition, Royal Cambrian Academy, Conwy
For Women By Women I, ronapainting gallery, Oxford, guest selector Kathleen Soriano
OPEN iso(lation), The Old Lock Up Gallery, Cromford (online)
Art from the Heart, Zuleika Gallery, London & Woodstock (online)
Letters From A Strange Year: In Transition, Vout Vintage, London. Curators: Sarah Needham, Paul Morrow
Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours Open Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
Bath Society of Artists Open Exhibition, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath
Incandescent, Irving Contemporary, Oxford (online)
2020
Symbiosis: Art and Nature, Darle & the Bear, Woodstock
Frickleton Fine Art, The Control Tower Gallery and Cripps LLP, Kings Hill
Chipping Norton Arts Members’ Exhibtion. Darle & the Bear, Woodstock
2019
Royal Watercolour Society Contemporary Watercolour Competition, Bankside Gallery, London
2018
Royal Watercolour Society Contemporary Watercolour Competition, Bankside Gallery, London
2017
Royal Watercolour Society Contemporary Watercolour Competition, Bankside Gallery, London
Stories/Narrative, Rookley Manor Studio, Rookley, Isle of Wight
Stratford Art Fair, Stratford-upon-Avon, also 2016
2015
A garden at the foot of every tree, Rookley Manor Studio, Rookley, Isle of Wight
2013
The Gallery, Waterperry Gardens, Oxfordshire
2011
This is not a school, Five Years, London
Pre.Sense, susan projects, empty house pop-up project space, Oxford
Feint, The Rag Factory, London
2010
MA Fine Art Degree Exhibition, Winchester School of Art, Winchester
OVADA Gallery, Oxford
Re-imagining Treasures of Hyde Abbey, Hyde900 Festival, Winchester Cathedral
2009
Research Anthology Exhibition, The Winchester Gallery, Winchester School of Art
Inspiration/Interpretation, Town Hall Gallery, Oxford
Dappled Things: Pied Beauty, Old Fire Engine House Gallery, Ely
2008
BA (hons) Textile Art Degree Exhibition, Winchester School of Art
Class of 2008, The Hub, Sleaford
New Designers, Business Design Centre, London
The Oxford Open, Modern Art Oxford
2007
The Hospital of St Cross, Winchester
Oxford Art Society Members’ Exhibition, Town Hall Gallery, Oxford
2006
Art and the Senses, ScienceOxford, Oxford, curator Francesca Bacci, selectors Richard Wentworth, Martin Kemp, Sîan Ede
Drawing Spaces: Picturing Knowledge, Hartley Library, University of Southampton, curators Trish Bould and Belinda Mitchell
The Wall Gallery, Ely
Oxford Art Society Members’ Exhibitions, Town Hall Gallery, Oxford and The Abbey, Sutton Courtenay
Oxford Art Society, Saïd Business School, Oxford
2005
St Edward’s Open, St Edward’s School, Oxford, selector Karen Wright, editor of Modern Painters
Oxford Art Society Members’ Exhibition, Fletcher’s House, Woodstock
The Wall Gallery, Ely
Oxford Art Society Open Exhibition, Saïd Business School, Oxford
Templeton College, University of Oxford
2004
Merriscourt Gallery, Churchill, near Chipping Norton
The Wall Gallery, Ely
Off the Wall, Buckinghamshire County Museum, Aylesbury
Oxford Art Society Members’ Exhibition, Saïd Business School, Oxford
2003
Land and Sea, Rufford Gallery, Rufford Country Park, Ollerton, Newark
The Wall Gallery, Ely
The Dedalo Prize, Dedalo Arte, Camaiore, Italy
Oxford Art Society Open Exhibition, Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock
2002
The Fountain Group, Old Fire Engine House Gallery, Ely
Babylon Gallery, Ely
2001
The Visual Haiku, Japan 2001 Festival, Peterborough Art House, Peterborough
The Eastern Open, Kings Lynn Arts Centre, Kings Lynn
Babylon Gallery, Ely
The Fountain Group, Pelican Gallery, The Perse School, Cambridge
2000
The Fountain Group, Conservatory Gallery, Cambridge
The Fountain Group, Pelican Gallery, The Perse School, Cambridge
1999
Robin Child Group, The Mill Gallery, Lechlade, also 1998
-
2011 Pre.Sense, susan projects, curated by Marius von Brasch and Ella Clocksin, open call exhibition in pop-up project space, Stansfield Close, Oxford
-
2019 University of Oxford Wytham Woods Research Collection, Oxford
2009 West Wing, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford
2000 The Perse School, Cambridge
-
2000-25 Self-employed tutor and facilitator of year-round art workshops and retreats
2013-17 Visual Arts Therapist, The School of Life, London
2010-11 Visiting Lecturer in Life Drawing, Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton
-
2023 Lafferty, E., ‘Oxfordshire Artists: Colours Of Autumn,’ Ox Mag website
2022 ‘CURIOS: Spotlight on six artists exhibiting at art_house_life during Ventnor Fringe,’ On The Wight website
2021 Lafferty, E., ‘Isolation Art: Inside and Out,’ Ox Mag website
2020 Bradbury, E., ‘Our changing relationship with creativity,’ KissHouse website
2020 Lafferty, E., ‘ART: Into the Woods,’ Word Press
2020 ‘Art helps us navigate life’s [deeper] waters,’ The Oxford Mail
2020 Lafferty, E., ‘Trees Are Essential,’ Ox Mag website
2011 Bacci, F. & Melchor, D. (eds), Art and the Senses, Oxford University Press, pp.1-3
-
2019 Ella Clocksin, ‘Ennui Re-figured: An Introduction,’ critical introduction in Ennui Re-figured: Marius von Brasch and Freya Purdue, exh. cat., APT Gallery, London
2017 Ella Clocksin, ‘Narratives of Perception: Time, Relationships, Identity and Transformation,’ critical introduction in Illumination: Marius von Brasch and Howard Hardiman, exh. cat., Quay Arts, Newport
2011 Ella Clocksin, ‘Playing for Time,’ in Feint, exh. cat., University of Southampton & Winchester Gallery Press
2009 Ella Clocksin, ‘Slippage, in Gillett, J. & Harland, B. (eds), Winchester School of Art Research Anthology, University of Southampton & Winchester Gallery Press, pp.68-73
-
2020 Birdsong Perceptual Field, artist discussion of Twelve Artists at Home Residency project, with Jelly, Reading, YouTube
2016 Modern Art: What’s It For? The School of Life, London
2015 What is Modern Art For? The School of Life, London
2015 What is Art For? The School of Life, London
2015 Art as Therapy: Learn to Love Your Body, The School of Life, London
2011 Unspoken Residues, Friends’ Artist Talk, Modern Art Oxford
2010 Connective Tissue: how does physical touch and movement relate to being metaphorically or emotionally touched or moved? The Dance and Academia Seminar, Ioannou Centre for Classical & Byzantine Studies, Oxford, convenor Miranda Richardson
2010 Disruptions of Intimacy? Visual and tactile perception in performance and video, Graduate School Conference, Winchester School of Art
2009 The Poetics of Illegibility, Graduate School Conference, Winchester School of Art