Bio:
Naomi Ellis (b. 1994) is a London-based artist whose interdisciplinary practice spans across media often incorporating sculpture, marbling, print, moving image and socially engaged projects. Her work demonstrates a particular interest in notions of connectivity and distance in our increasingly technological age. Despite being immersed in a world saturated with virtual information, much of her work stems from a desire to return to the physical.
Rooted in a fascination with geology, water, maps, and the search for Utopia; Naomi draws inspiration from remote islands and satellite imagery as vital points for critical reflection. Influenced by Édouard Glissant’s concept of archipelagic thinking, she explores how connections can be forged across distances and differences, emphasising the fluidity and interdependence of communities.
Naomi spent six months studying sculpture in Kyoto, Japan and her work is held in the Ingram Collection - one of the largest and most significant publicly accessible collections of Modern British art in the UK. She is currently a studio associate at Set Space Studio, Lewisham High Street.
Contact: studio@naomi-ellis.com
Education:
Ba Fine Art XD pathway at Central Saint Martins, UK 2013-16 - First Class Honours
International Exchange – Sculpture, Kyoto Seika University, Japan 2014-15
Art & Design Foundation – Performance Design and Practice, Central Saint Martins, UK 2012-13
Awards:
Mullen Lowe NOVA Award: Nominated and Shortlisted, 2016
Yorkshire Sculpture Park Graduate Residency Prize: Shortlisted, 2016
Queen’s Scholarship: Very Highly Commended, 2015
Phoebe Llewellyn Smith Award: Shortlisted, 2015
Royal Society of British Artists: RBA Scholar, 2012
Selected exhibitions:
2024
Artworks Open 2024, The Barbican Arts Group Trust, London, November
Color Field: Orange, dodomu gallery, Online New York-based, December
2023
The Assembly House Summer Open Exhibition, Assembly House, Norwich, June
Flow: Materiality in Motion, SET Kensington, October
2022
Open Studios, SET Space Studios New Cross, London, March
SLINT NX #2, SET Space New Cross, London, March
2021
Open Studios, SET Space Studios New Cross, London, September
SLINT NX, SET Space New Cross, London, September
2020
CANCELLED Solo show, SET Space Bermondsey, London, 28th Oct - 8th November
CANCELLED Digital Intervention, Catford Mews, London, curated by Cura, 29th April - 10th June
2019
Our Skins are Porous Too, SKELF, online, curated by Adam J Walker, 16th January - 16th April
Playing Houses, Flat Time House, Peckham, London, curated by RCA Ma Writing, 30th March
2018
Show Women, Gibberd Gallery, Harlow, Essex, 10th August - 27th October
Young Curators 2 Day Digital Media Workshop and Pop-up Exhibition, Lightbox, Woking, 31st July - 1st August
The Art of Collecting, Mall Galleries for Mayfair Art Weekend, Mayfair, London, 27th June - 6th July
2017
The 15 Cmdments (Cmd-Z), Curated by Sid and Jim, The Wrong - New Digital Art Biennale, November
Text piece shown in Keiken's PDF library at FOMO - Falmouth Art Publishing Fair, Falmouth Art Gallery, Falmouth, September
Open Studios, SET Space Studios, Alscot Road, Bermondsey, London, August
30/30 project with 12oCollective (featured on Day 5, Day 8, Day 11, Day 13, Day 20 , Day 23, and Day 27) April
Altered-Realities, Lethaby Gallery, Kings Cross, London, 22nd Feb - 11th March
2016
Embrace The Past, Forget The Future, IsThisItIsThisIt.com, Online Exhibition, December 2016
Palimpsest, Curated by Art Catcher, The Chocolate Factory, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, November 2016
Young Contemporary Talent Purchase Prize Exhibition, Mountridge Art Foundation, The Cello Factory, November
IsThisIt? AFK, Curated by Bob Biknell-Knight, London, November
Touch Me Baby, Curated by Anna Choutova, Bones & Pearl Studio, London, November
Resurfacing Imprints, Lady Beck, Leeds, UK, October
Show Us What You're Made Of! Ingram Collection, The Lightbox, Woking, UK, 26 July - 2 October
Narrative Objects Display, The British Museum, London, September
Distributed Monuments, Geddes Gallery, London, July
Central Saint Martins Degree Show 1, London, May
Do Not Disturb Festival, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, April
2015
Because the Internet, The Rag Factory, London, May
The Copy Shop, Central Saint Martins, London, April
2nd Grade Sculpture exhibition, Rissei Art Gallery, Kyoto, Japan, February
2014
KONTON カオス, a collaborative installation by the Chiteijin Collective, Kyoto Seika University, Kyoto, Japan, December
The Last Memory, Dead Space Gallery, Kyoto, Japan, November
LATENCY, Vyner Street Gallery, Hackney, June
2013
Exhibition Evenings, House Gallery, London, December
Central Saint Martins Foundation Show, London, May
2012
National Students’ Art Exhibition held under the patronage of the Royal Society of British Artists, Mall Galleries, London, July
2011
National Students’ Art Exhibition held under the patronage of the Royal Society of British Artists, Mall Galleries, London, July
Curatorial:
Flow: Materiality in Motion, Set Kensington, October 2023
SLINT NX #2, SET Space New Cross, London, September 2022
SLINT NX, SET Space New Cross, London, September 2021
Distributed Monuments, Geddes Gallery, London, 2016
Publications:
100 Words a Month From Tristan da Cunha
Residencies:
Graduate Residency at Assembly House Leeds, Sept-Oct 2016
Narrative Objects Workshop, The British Museum, August 2016
Here in Archway, collaborative site-specific residency with AIR, February 2014
Workshops:
Suminagashi Marbling with the Young V&A, December 2023 - April 2024
Young Curators 2 Day Digital Media Workshop and Pop-up Exhibition, Lightbox, Woking, 31st July - 1st August 2018
Sign Making Workshops in collaboration with S.O.U.P, Set Alscot Road, February 2017
Press:
Review of Show Women, The Page, 2018
An Interview With Naomi Ellis, Lightbox blog, 2018
The Creators Project (Vice), 2016
'The Delights and Dangers of the Digital', 2016
Mullen Lowe Nova Award Show One Shortlist, 2016