The Ellen Prebble Exhibition at Hastings Museum & Art Gallery

Opening on 21st January and showing until 14th April Ellen has brought together works from her studio practice and objects from Hastings Museum’s collection. 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.

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: “I have the gift to see and bring out inner beauty.”

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: “When people look at my paintings, I want them to feel amazed and fascinated.”

Find out more about Ellen and her practice at projectartworks.org.