Ellen Nanni-Vargas is a mixed media artist working primarily in painting and drawing. Growing up in Little Compton, Rhode Island, she spent most of her childhood barefoot on the beach. Her color palette alludes to iridescent tides and velvety gloaming skies. Much of her inspiration comes from these formative years getting lost in such an idyllic, secluded place. In her work, visceral dreams interlace with childhood toys; the fantastic and mundane intertwine into surreal dreamscapes. Ellen’s work synthesizes elements of the natural landscape with personal symbols drawn from her inner world. Her compositions are constellations of memories, inspiration and delight. Ellen received a BFA in Printmaking from Syracuse University, and an MAT in Art Education from Rhode Island College. Currently, Ellen is an MFA candidate at Lesley University.
Statement
My work is an exhalation of questions, of experiences, of one human’s search for delight and understanding. Schopenhauer wrote, “Art is like philosophy in its attempt to solve the problem of existence,” and in this way my painting and drawing practice weaves together the layers of my reality. Visceral dreams, provoking conversations, the visual glory of nature, relationship dynamics, old toys, food metaphors, the dance of predator and prey, my work is informed by this constellation of eclectic inspirations, glimmering distillates of past and present. In one of my earliest memories, I squat down beside a marshy puddle. Using a shell, I dig around in the soft dark mud, unearthing sediments that have long settled down to the bottom. Decaying brown leaves, decomposed almost beyond recognition, are overlapped by lively-bright green ones that have just fallen that morning, old and new swirling together in a cloudy cauldron. I squat there, investigating, immersed in the sounds, smells, textures. I enjoy the act of exploring, of digging up sediments that had long sat undisturbed, reorganizing the ingredients of the small, earthy portal over which I peer. Many years later, the same delight in the process of digging, unearthing, searching has become the material of my artwork.
Instagram: @enannivargas
images of work
