about

Ellie Shipman is a visual and participatory artist and illustrator based in Bristol. 

Ellie studied BA Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art, UAL (2008 - 11) and MSc Sustainable Development at UWE (2015 - 16). Ellie’s practice is concerned with concurrent states of being and the process of drawing out shared commonality between them: hope and fear; isolation and togetherness; the domestic and the public; grief and joy. The liminal space where these states rebuff, align and overlap is explored, shared and reflected on through multimedia artworks using found objects, textiles, drawing, audio and installation. Ellie is interested in what it is to be a womxn; the experience of birth and new m/otherhood as well as notions of community; sustainability and anticipatory mourning for climate collapse.

Works are often site specific, participatory or interactive - including people in research, process and product. Ellie collaborates with researchers, scientists and fellow creatives as well as the general public and a diverse range of community groups alongside independent work.

Ellie regularly works on commissions for universities, researchers, museums and archives amongst others. Commissioners, funders and partners have included: Arts Council England; We the Curious; The Vietnamese Women’s Museum; Southmead Hospital; Pump House Gallery; The University of Bristol; The University of Cambridge; Historic England; The Royal Shakespeare Company; Wellcome Trust. Ellie is an Associate Artist at Spike Island.

Ellie is also an illustrator, map-maker and pattern designer, whose illustration portfolio can be found at ellieshipman.com

For a brief overview of Ellie's practice, you can watch this walkthrough of her solo show RE:COLLECTION - Regathering Social Practice at St Anne's House, Bristol, 2023.