Stephanie L. Ellison

I’m interested in rhythm and the interrelated nature of things seen and unseen. Studies in Japan at an early age, coupled with roots in Southern Illinois have informed my perspective.  

An artist, movement instructor, and former jazz radio dj, I’ve used interdisciplinary methods and connections to create works over the years. Storytelling, movement, embodied rhythms, and intuition are all important to my process. Recent projects include jewelry, as it can convey complex stories as concise, intimate artworks. 

My family ran a baseball concession stand during the 50s and 60s in East St. Louis, and in 2016 my sisters opened a candy store. Starting from this bit of family history and using candy, I began casting recognizable sweets, like licorice twists but went on to explore moving shapes within sweet and indulgent casting themes. Most notably, I’ve been chewing gum and casting it in silver and gold as wearable works. The finished pieces are partly dictated by chance, but there is a pattern, a personal signature of action, in my chewing and playing with gum, often perhaps of anxiety or of self-soothing. The work appears unassuming, even pretty, but the symbols contained therein can elicit visceral responses and further inquiry. Chewed gum has proven an intriguing sculpting medium and is something I continue to explore in larger works. 

Stephanie Ellison is a self-taught artist with an integrated background in dance, writing, and Japanese.  She explores interdisciplinary realms between culture and science, focusing on the human sensory experience, the phenomenology of rhythms, and movement practices that foster connections to ourselves, each other, and the more-than-human. Stephanie graduated from Illinois State University and teaches movement and Pilates for over twenty years. She is pursuing her Masters through Choreomundus, an Erasmus Mundus program that investigates dance and other movement systems as intangible cultural heritage.

Selected Works by Stephanie Ellison

For more about Stephanie: StephanieEllison.com