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AD 247 | Elly Smallwood
“Growth, Vulnerability, and New Horizons”

Elly Smallwood is a figurative and portrait artist living in Canada. She works primarily in acrylics and oils.


Topics Discussed In This Episode:
  • Elly moving from Ottawa to the woods
  • The energetic differences she notices between living in a city versus being in the woods
  • Modern-day false prophets and gurus
  • The power of questioning dogmatic principles
  • Art capitalism
  • Trying to seek balance in the need to live a peaceful life, while simultaneously wanting to seek progression in one’s career
  • Elly’s experiences working with galleries
  • Growth through vulnerability
  • Her perspective of creating portraits of other people in contrast to creating portraits of herself
  • Model vs. muse
  • Elly’s bone collection
  • Tarot and its influence on Elly’s artwork
  • The Hermit and The Tower in the Major Arcana in Tarot
  • Elly training Muay Thai
  • Working through uncomfortable experiences

Artists / People Mentioned:
  • Nina Menkes (Film Director)

Books Mentioned:
  • The Richest Man In Babylon (George Samuel Clason)
  • The Kybalion (Three Initiates)
  • The Vegetarian (Han Kang)

Films / TV Series Mentioned:
  • Wild Wild Country
  • Portrait of a Lady on Fire
  • Brainwashed: Sex, Camera, Power

elly.ca
instagram.com/ellysmallwood

Posted 12.6.2022


About

"I started this series as a means for exploration, an exploration of self, and an exploration of the perspectives of other artists.

This series is an unabridged documentation of conversations between artists. It’s a series dedicated to breaking down the barriers we tend to set up in our own minds. I want to inspire future creatives to have the courage to explore and experiment. This is about making dreams a reality and not about letting our dreams fall to the wayside.

My intention is to give my audience a sense of real human connection, something that feels rich and organic.

When I was thinking of a title I thought of the word “movement”.

In relation to the Renaissance period in art, my goal for this program is to signify a rebirth of consciousness towards the way we look at contemporary art."

- Yoshino
Contact

info@artistdecoded.com