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Unnatural Fusions of Animal and Plant Life Form New Elaborate Sculptures by Ellen Jewett

Canadian artist Ellen Jewett (previously) is known for her elaborately decorated polymer sculptures that combine wildlife with flowers, plants, and trees. Jewett, whose educational background is in animal science and behavior, uses her deep understanding of how creatures move through the world to inform her fantastical artworks. In one sculpture, ferns unfurl from the tail of a peacock, while a marsh of cattails grows from the abdomen of a dragonfly in another.

With her most recent sculptures from winter 2018 and spring 2019, Jewett shares with Colossal that she is starting to explore the use of unnatural colors. In doing so, Jewett seeks “to more deeply probe the emotional dimensions of my subjects. I want the emotional presence of the animal to be clearly present even if the precise interpretation remains indiscernible.”

The artist’s work will be shown in a show opening May 11, 2019 at the Urban Nation Museum of Contemporary Art in Berlin, as well as at the MESA Contemporary Arts Museum in Arizona and the Beinart Gallery in Melbourne in September and November, respectively.