Solo debut for artist Ellen Prebble in Hastings

She says: “I have the gift to see and bring out inner beauty. When people look at my paintings, I want them to feel amazed and fascinated.”

Spokeswoman Jessica Courtney Bennett said: “Drawing on influences from the natural world to pop culture and with a practice ranging from painting to sculpture, Ellen renders familiar scenes in minute detail and bold colours, recalling the animations and photographs that inform her research.

“For this show, Ellen has brought together works from her studio practice and objects from the museum’s collection. Ellen has an enduring relationship with Hastings Museum & Art Gallery, having visited throughout her life, and describes it as ‘a lovely little museum full of things that I love, including birds.’

“Ellen regularly finds inspiration in topography, ranging from the wilderness to the city, and in the natural world, often pacing her canvases to coincide with key moments in the year – a season or a festival. She frequently works from photographs. Her approach is methodical and highly detail-oriented, working from one corner until the whole canvas is covered.

“Ellen has undertaken a number of commissions and her works have featured in exhibitions at venues including Piano Nobile Gallery (2019), the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in the Turner Prize exhibition (2021) and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (2023). Having studied Art at Hastings College, Ellen joined the studio at Project Art Works, where she has worked since 2017. Ellen enjoys sharing her unique perspective with others through her art and is inspired by the possibility of others exploring her archive.”

Drawings reflect Ellen’s interest in characters from animations that inform use of bold colours. Experimentation with acrylic paint processes lead to creating figurative narratives through painted images on a small scale developed over a number of weeks, on both paper and canvas.